


The three of us

by karamel_dreams



Series: The three of us [13]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: But mostly fluff, F/M, Fluff, Karamel baby AU, Some angst, other characters pop in and out too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-06-10 13:53:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 42,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15292947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karamel_dreams/pseuds/karamel_dreams
Summary: Kara and Mon-El have a baby. Enough said.





	1. Oh... (Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, this series was getting too long and I thought it'd be better if I saved us all the trouble of skipping from part to part and started posting it as a chaptered work instead. I hope you don't mind. This one is in chronological order too btw, but for those who don't wanna read it all over again, new updates are gonna be from chapter 19 and after.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Kara gets sick, but it's not what you think.

  
Time ticked by slowly and Kara tried - and failed - to muffle her fourth yawn in just as many minutes. It wasn’t that she was bored, or that she wasn’t interested in what Alex had been talking about, she was just tired. It’d been a long day of fighting rogue aliens and capturing amateurish - and not - criminals and the blonde felt drained of energy. Perhaps she was to blame for her current predicament, she hadn’t been sleeping or eating well lately, although if she remembered correctly, the fatigue and the moodiness had started before that.

Kara shifted in her seat and lowered her eyes, suddenly very aware of the pounding headache approaching and her newfound sensitivity to the light. Alex continued to talk and the blonde was trying to listen, but it proved to be an unsuccessful task. She couldn’t say what was wrong but it certainly felt like she had gotten sick somehow, which was odd, since human viruses couldn’t affect her and she couldn’t recall coming close to anything resembling kryptonite the last couple of weeks. Once again, Kara squinted her eyes as a yawn escaped her chapped lips.

Alex gave her a side-glance, her forehead creasing and her brow lifting. Kara noticed her sister looking at her questioningly and she shook her head, too tired to cover up her odd behavior. The two continued to share glances until Alex was finished with her debrief and then sat quietly as the room emptied out. The blonde didn’t make a move to go, even though at the moment she was dying to fly home and slip out of her suit. She squirmed in her chair again, her eyelids getting heavier by the minute.

The older sister started shedding pieces of her tactical gear. She unfastened her bulletproof vest and the straps clasped around her thighs and then proceeded to put everything away. Everything except her gun. That last one she hid beneath her shirt, tucking it in the back of her waist like always."What’s going on with you today?" she asked.

Kara closed her eyes for a second. "I’m not sure," she responded. "I think I’m going to solar-flare or something. I’ve been feeling so strangely lately. So _human_." A frown tugged at her mouth and she massaged her temples.

Alex regarded her, biting her bottom lip, her confusion only fueled further. "Have your powers weakened?" She sat beside Kara, having noticed the way the blonde had been favoring her head, and allowed her to rest it on her shoulder. She didn't get an actual answer but a negative sound echoed from Kara's throat as the blonde nuzzled closer, just enough to cover her eyes from the harsh light illuminating the room, and Alex sighed, wrapping an arm around her unfortunate sister. "I could run some tests, if you let me draw some blood…" the redhead suggested, her voice quiet, and she nodded when Kara shook her head in a negative manner.

"Can you drive me home? I don’t think I want to fly right now." The superhero pulled away and stood, fidgeting with her suit and pulling at the fabric like it made her uncomfortable. She felt hot.

“Of course," Alex said, not missing a beat.

The pair got into Alex’s car not long after that. They drove in silence, the radio muted to protect Kara from the extra unnecessary noise, and the blonde leaned back in her seat, wincing every time the car hit a bump in the road. Luckily, traffic was light, for once, and the journey didn't last long. Kara had wanted to call Mon-El, to ask whether he had prepared anything for dinner, but the thought had been forgotten as she leaned more and more toward sleep. She didn't doze off, didn't have enough time to, but she spent most of the ride in a half-aware state,  where her brain wasn't really functioning despite the fact that her eyes had remained open.

When the car engine was switched off and the gentle roaring stopped, Kara needed a minute to regain full awareness. She stumbled into her building, Alex quickly steading her with an arm around her shoulders, and they slipped into the elevator without saying a word.

Soon, Kara realized taking the elevator had been a horrible idea. Its motions made her stomach turn unpleasantly and her head dizzy. She couldn't wait for it to stop moving. Never again had she felt such disdain for the fact that she lived on the top floor. "I hate being sick," she mumbled, groaning as a wave of nausea flowed through her.

Alex hummed in response, she wanted to roll her eyes but the sympathetic part of her forbade the action. "Let's get you inside," she comforted as the metal doors slipped open and she gently urged Kara to her home's front door. She didn't wait for the blonde to dig through her purse for the keys, instead opting to use her own (because  _of course_ she had keys to Kara's place, what do you mean?). The two stepped inside and were immediately hit by the smell of cooking food. Alex's stomach did a flip as she inhaled, having forgotten how hungry she'd gotten after such a full and tiring day.

In opposition, the moan Kara released was not one of satisfaction, surprisingly enough. "Oh Rao," the blonde cupped her mouth, her eyes going wide. "Goodness," she muttered and was gone in an instant, running to the bathroom faster than the time it took Alex to react.

A retching sound followed, accompanied by a miserable cough, and although Alex had been looking forward to having dinner with her sister and her boyfriend, she knew it was unlikely it'd happen at that point. Dropping her jacket and purse on the table, Alex ran to the blonde's aid, her concern loud and palpable now.

 

**~**

"I thought she couldn't get sick," Mon-El said quietly, about an hour later, setting a beer in front of Alex and grabbing one for himself as well. The food had been abandoned in the oven, both having lost their appetite after spending an entire hour with Kara in the bathroom, the krypotonian emptying her stomach until all color was washed off her face. They'd trade places with each other, depending on who Kara wanted by her side, holding her hair back and wiping the sweat trickling down her skin.

"She can't. Normally at least," Alex replied just as quietly. She took a sip straight from the bottle and turned to look at Kara's shivering form on the bed under the covers. She'd finally fallen asleep, completely exhausted and miserable, but muffled whines continued to escape her lips even in her dreaming state. Kara had shifted her body into a ball, the blond top of her head the only thing visible and uncovered by the thick comforter.

"I'm worried," the redhead admitted, her furrowed brows matching Mon-El's. "Last time she got sick she did after she solar-flared but now she's like this while her powers are perfectly intact. I don't know what's happening to her." She gulped loudly, draining half of her drink and setting the bottle on the coffee table after she started to slightly feel the effect alcohol had on an empty stomach. She couldn't let the haze settle in in case Kara got sick again.

"She's been feeling off all week, she didn't say anything but I noticed," Mon-El shared. His worry showed in the way he kept glancing at his girlfriend and sighing. He was at a disadvantage. He had never seen Kara get sick, or without her powers. Three years they'd been together and although she'd been injured plenty of times, she'd never actually fallen ill. That one was a first. And it terrified him. 

"I think I'm going to stay here tonight," Alex said. "If you don't mind."

Mon-El nodded his head. "Of course," he replied. "You can sleep with her, I'll take the couch," he offered, knowing he would stay up all night, just listening to Kara breathing, ready to run to her side if she so much as uttered his name.

"Thanks," the human of the two said. 

Silence followed, the heavy kind, as they both got a little too lost in their own heads. The TV played in the background, even though neither paid attention, and Mon-El got up quietly to leave their beer bottles in the sink.

"It's not morning," he said to himself, the words absentminded and with no real purpose other than to give sound to his thoughts. 

Nevertheless, Alex heard him. "What?" She questioned. 

Mon-El turned to look at her again. "Just an observation," he said. "It's usually morning when Kara feels under the weather. This whole week she didn't even touch her breakfast but the rest of the day she's been calling me craving the most random things."

Mon-El didn't have to say more before Alex's mouth opened in a noiseless gasp and her eyes widened in surprise. A chuckle rippled past her mouth and even after the sound faded the smile stayed. "Oh," she said like she'd just gotten an epiphany. " _Oh!_ _"_

( _Oh_  indeed.)


	2. Oh... (Part 2)

The next morning came slowly, quietly, the night bleeding into dawn with an explosion of reds and oranges and purples. The sun lifted itself higher, playing peek-a-boo with the horizon, before it got bored and lazily stretched out until it bathed every corner of the city with light. Birds chirped, people woke, cars roared to life. The usual stuff. Yet through it all, Kara slept. The sun had skipped past her, had taken pity on the exhausted woman and left her in a shadowed spot to savour her rest a little longer.

The house was quiet, and as the time passed, the second body occupying the extra space next to Kara changed. Alex had to leave for work early but neither she nor Mon-El had the heart to wake the blonde up. They let her sleep in and Mon-El crawled into bed beside her after Alex had left.

He hadn't slept much, and he was still buzzing with worry, even though they'd had a quiet night. Kara had slept like a rock, clinging to a pillow and not having moved much, but there had formed shadows under her eyes. Mon-El noticed and he stared. He followed the outline of her lips to the slope of her nose to the curve of her lashes resting upon rosy cheeks. Three years he'd spent with her and the sight of her still left him breathless. It wasn't just her obvious beauty, it was every single one of her details he'd memorized along the way.

He moved his head until he and Kara were sharing a pillow and lifted his hand to caress her face. Her temple, her ear, the side of her neck, he ran his fingers across warm skin just to ease his craving to feel her. She was so quiet, so peaceful, that it surprised him sometimes, how she could turn into chaos as soon as her eyelids flattered open. She was strong, and good, and so loud in the way that she loved that this quiet moment almost didn't fit her. But it did, in a way. Because she could be silent, she could be but a mere presence occupying space, but that was never a good sign. Kara's silence held anger and pain, and Mon-El loathed when she turned like that.

He released a breath, a puff of air that almost resembled a sigh, and squeezed her hip gently. Kara scrunched her face in her sleep and instinctively stirred closer to him. She slipped a leg between both of his own and reached blindly for his face, her fingers pressing lightly against his skin when she found his cheek.

"Mon-El?" Kara murmured. Her eyes flattered, just once, and she buried her face underneath his chin.

Mon-El hugged her, pressing her tighter against him. "I'm here," he soothed and used an open palm to rub her back. The cover had slipped lower and Mon-El lifted it from Kara's hips up to her shoulders. He listened in, noticing that her breathing hadn't evened out again, but he didn't say anything. He let her enjoy the remnants of her dreams, after all, he too enjoyed having her in his arms like that. Warm and lax and sleepy, chasing his touch and clinging like he was the only thing she needed to be content.

Minutes passed until Kara moved again. Slowly, sneakily, she slipped a hand underneath Mon-El's shirt. Her fingers danced their way up to his ribs and she scratched ever so lightly, caressed and tickled until she felt a trapped giggle vibrating in his throat.

"Stop it," Mon-El playfully warned and Kara chuckled breathily, her lips quirking up.

"I think I needed a morning like this," she said. She tipped her head back until she could see Mon-El's face and then pressed her mouth against his. It wasn't really a kiss, just a tiny pucker, but their lips lingered together for a few long moments.

That's what Mon-El loved the most about sleepy Kara. The way she was needy and clingy but in a subtle way.  She was soft and gentle, easing him into the burst of a character she became once her feet hit the floor.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, the question pestering him since the moment he realized Kara had awoken. He looked at her but her eyes had fallen shut again.

Kara took a second to answer, inhaling deeply as she finally let go of her lingering sleepiness. "I'm hungry," she stated and then nudged Mon-El with her hand, as if telling him to get his ass out of bed because breakfast wasn't going to prepare itself.

In response Mon-El released a brief laugh and squeezed her in his hold. "You cheeky thing," he teased and gave Kara a kiss, a real one this time, before slipping out of bed.

**~**

Noon had rolled around before Kara stepped foot into the DEO. The building was buzzing, the whole place was crowded, and she felt weird walking in so late and with her normal clothes on. She hadn't flown in because she couldn't be seen roaming the city in her Supergirl attire while J'onn was out there, pretending to be her, so she could have some time off. Nevertheless, her suit was still tucked beneath her clothes, just in case.

She greeted Winn with a wave and a smile but didn't approach. Alex had texted her earlier about wanting to talk so Kara headed straight to her sister's lab. She stood at the door, not wanting to barge in while the redhead was deeply focused into her work, and knocked lightly to make her presence known.

Alex turned to look at her. "Oh, hey, you look better, how do you feel?" she fretted, abandoning whatever task she'd been preoccupied with to check Kara over.

The blonde rolled her eyes in response. "I'm fine," she said, faint protest in her tone. "What did you want to talk about?" She stepped in the room, immediately setting her hands on things she probably shouldn't be touching, examining tools she had no idea what they were used for.

"Don't touch that!" Alex slapped the curious alien's hand off an untested new gun. Kara whined but the older sister raised an eyebrow in return, daring her, and the blonde backed away with both her hands raised innocently. She might be invincible but she knew touching Alex's toys without permission was like a death wish.

"What I wanted to talk about is you, feeling sick for the past week, and not saying a word about it," Alex accused, her gaze piercing, her expression dead serious. She put her hands on either side of her waist and anticipated a response.

"How did you know it's been all week?" Kara asked, she knew Alex had her backed into a wall and there was no lying her way out of her predicament. Still, she opted to stall with a question instead of offering a straight answer.

"Mon-El," the agent simply stated.

The superhero sighed and let her shoulders slump. "I didn't think he'd noticed," she said, leaning on an empty table with one hand as she blinked for a long moment. "Look, I'm not one hundred percent sure," Kara paused briefly to emphasize her words. "But I think I know what's wrong with me," she finished.

Alex nodded her head. "I have an idea as well." She reached out and squeezed her sister's shoulder upon seeing her defeated stance. "It hit me when Mon-El mentioned your morning sickness."

Kara looked at her with wet eyes, a stressed look painted over her features. "What am I gonna do?" Desperation dripped from her voice, insecurity weighed on her, and her fingers twitched together as she lowered her gaze. "I can't be a mom, Alex," she spoke in a tremulous tone. "I fight people every day, I protect this city, how can I do that if I have a baby inside of me?" she cried.

Alex didn't hesitate a single second before she wrapped her arms around Kara and tried to comfort her. "First of all we're not even sure there's a baby yet," she pointed out, trying to sound reassuring. "Would you like me to run those tests now?" she asked.

Kara nodded against her sister's shoulder. She clang to her for a bit longer before taking a deep breath and pulling away. "Yeah," she mumbled. "Yeah, let's do that."


	3. Oh... (Part 3)

Kara wasn't the type of person who wished for bad things to happen, and generally, although it sometimes unnerved her to no end, a quiet day in National City was welcomed. However, as she paced the floor in her sister's lab like an athlete training to run a marathon, she loathed that Supergirl wasn't needed at the moment. She'd much rather be out there, blowing out fires or fighting evil aliens, than be stuck in the DEO waiting for something she knew could turn her life upside down. Alex had left her alone for the past ten minutes, had gone to check if the results of her blood test had been finished, and Kara wasn't sure what she was afraid of the most. The fact that she could be pregnant or the fact that she was actually getting excited at the idea of it.

Now that the initial surprise had passed, and so had the instinctive terror, she was tempted to run a hand across her abdomen and let the possibility sink in. She wanted to imagine it, picture tiny fingers and toes, eyes that could look exactly like Mon-El's, hair that could match her own. She wanted to entertain the idea, because the reality of it might cause her a lot of trouble but it didn't feel like trouble itself. It felt more like a shot at another life, a life that had the potential to bring in more happiness. And well, what person in their right mind would ever deny themselves a few more joyous days?

If she weren't an indestructible woman, she'd have bitten her nails off by now, or at least, her bottom lip would be bloody and raw because of how hard her teeth were pressing down on it. She kept pacing, could have burned holes in the floor if she hadn't been mindful of her powers, and the time just didn't want to pass. A myriad of emotions crashed her chest, battling each other inside of her, and Kara was a mess. Or so it felt like.

"Rao, Alex, where are you?" she muttered, weaving a hand through her hair, displacing the perfect curls framing her face. One part of her was dying to get out of the lab and follow Alex's heartbeat until she found her. She couldn't stand that prolonged ignorance, it was driving her mad.

"Woah, okay, you need to calm down," Alex emphasized from her spot a few feet away from the door. She didn't need to step closer to know Kara was currently losing her mind, she could see it in the way the blonde's figure was trembling, unable to steady herself, and she didn't know what to do with her hands. Plus, she was pretty sure Kara hadn't even heard her approaching, which was definitely a giveaway.

The blonde's neck snapped in her sister's direction so fast it left both of them stunned, wondering how they hadn't heard a crack. Kara stared at Alex's face, trying to read her expression, and when she failed her gaze lowered to the piece of paper the redhead was holding in one hand. The results.

Kara swallowed hard before speaking. "What does it say?" she asked, her voice shaky and broken. The pause that followed felt like an eternity and the two glanced down at the paper only to lock eyes right after.

Alex sighed and stepped closer, an arm wrapping around Kara's shoulders before she uttered a single word. "I think I'm gonna ask J'onn for a raise. Being the coolest aunt is going to cost me," she said, a poor attempt to lighten the mood and ease Kara's nerves. Kara chuckled in response but the sound soon turned into a sob and Alex immediately pulled her in a tight embrace.

"Shh, you'll be fine," she reassured. "I'm right here," she accompanied the promise with a kiss in Kara's hair. She knew not much would help at the moment but voicing her support, loud and clear and unconditional, could be a first step.

The two stood there, wrapped in each other's arms, pressed against each other, like when Kara was still fifteen and getting traumatizing nightmares. Nobody was around, since Alex had long ago moved her lab to a secluded area in the DEO, but because of that the blonde's soft sobs and sniffling echoed louder amongst the walls. It broke Alex's heart to hear it, although she wasn't sure what had Kara so wrecked. Was it the fear, the insecurity, the uncertainty? Or was it something else? Suddenly it hit her. All that time Alex had comforted Kara but she hadn't actually asked her sister if she wanted to have a baby, and thinking about it, she couldn't recall a moment in the past when Kara had expressed such a wish.

Slowly, Alex pulled away enough so that she could see her sister's tear-stained face. "Kara?" she called softly.

"What?" the Kryptonian mumbled, wiping a rolling tear with her finger. She sniffed once and tried to compose herself. Nevertheless, her bottom lip still wobbled and she bit it to stop the motion.

"Do you not want the baby?"

The question made Kara freeze for a long second. She blinked, surprised, and a crinkle appeared above her nose. "What?" she said again. The option hadn't even occurred to her before that moment, the possibility not even a sneaky thought in the back of her mind. "Of course I want it," she replied determingly and that gave her a boost of confidence. She inhaled once, deeply, and spoke again. "I have a baby," she whispered, awed at the words, a grin tagging the corners of her mouth upwards.

Alex's eyes sparkled at the response, at the sight of her sister's pure, stunned disbelief. She nodded and mimicked Kara's smile. "Well I'm not sure it's a baby yet," she corrected, ever the scientist, but she couldn't help the laugh that escaped her when Kara rolled her eyes.

"I'm  _going to_  have a baby," Kara rephrased, an eyebrow arching as if daring Alex to correct that too.

The agent nodded again, this time initiating a hug of a different kind altogether. "I'm gonna spoil that kid rotten," she enthused, although to Kara it sounded more like a threat. "I've always wanted to teach someone how to throw a punch."

Now it was Kara's turn to pull away. "No, no, no, no! You're not teaching my baby anything, you hear me?" A hand rested on either side of her waist and she got an intimidating look on her face. After a long pause Alex agreed with a nod, pouting.

"I'm gonna go talk to Mon-El," the mom-to-be said, quiet and dreamy. Internally she was still buzzing with nerves, still afraid and shocked and excited. Contradicting feelings mixed together and she felt a knot forming in her stomach. It stayed with her after she left the DEO, while at work at CatCo, and especially when she flew back home, a little while after the sun had set. And then, when the time came that she had to tell Mon-El, her uneasiness only grew.

 _Oh Rao_ , she thought.

**~**

Usually, Kara was eager to come home after work, especially when she knew Mon-El would be already inside and waiting for her. Those quiet moments on the couch, wrapped up in each other and stealing kisses, sharing dinner, mindlessly rambling about their day, were her favourite. They were always something to look forward to, sometimes even more than the ones they spent in bed, naked and breathless and needy.

Today was different however. Today Kara was nervous as she opened the door and stepped inside. She stalled while taking off her coat, her purse, her shoes. She forced the smile she offered her boyfriend when he turned in his seat to look at her, his eyes straying from his book. And lastly, she forwent the kiss she always gave him when she saw him again. Instead, she rushed straight to the bedroom to change clothes, and although she normally opted to take a shower later into the night, this time she decided to take one right away. So without a word, she slipped into the bathroom, leaving Mon-El confused and at a loss, most likely.

Kara took her sweet time bathing herself. Just the thought of looking Mon-El in the eyes made her anxious. But it wasn't because she was scared to tell him the news, it wasn't that she feared his reaction. She just didn't know how to form the words, she felt paralyzed in a way. She wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, run into Mon-El's arms and run away from him. It was weird. It was complicated. It was overwhelming.

She felt panic rising within her as she wrapped a towel around her bare body. Uneasiness stretched out across her chest, making it feel tight, as she brushed her dripping hair. And when a knock was heard on the door Kara held her breath.

The door opened slowly, revealing a hesitant Mon-El behind. He wasn't wearing his usual smile or walked up to her to leave a kiss on her bare shoulder as he often liked to after her showers. He was quiet and she hated it.

She looked at him expectantly, forcing a swallow even though her mouth had gone dry.

"Did I do something?" he asked, vulnerable and confused. He gripped the door handle but didn't dare take another step. "Is something wrong?"

Kara froze at the question, at Mon-El's fearful eyes. That particular look was her weakness, it broke her heart every time. Years had passed since Mon-El had found his way back to her, after crashing back to the 21st century with the Legion, yet that newfound sorrow he carried she never grew accustomed to. The new version of him had been so easy to scare, so quick to get insecure and quiet, whenever Kara acted the slightest bit distant. It wasn't either of their faults, they both knew, it was the time spent apart and the life he'd lead without her that had changed him. Still, the moment she saw his slumped shoulders and his sad eyes, she forgot her complicated feelings. He rose above them.

Kara sighed. "Come here," she prompted. She didn't wait for Mon-El to move before she'd locked him into a tight embrace. She clang to him, showing him there was nothing she held against him, and pressed her lips to his neck when he returned the gesture. "It's been a long day," she explained, pulling back only to look him in the eyes. "And there's something I have to tell you."

Mon-El nodded and Kara brushed his hair away from his forehead. She gave him a smile, an effortless one, and pushed him gently out of the bathroom. "Let me get dressed and then we can have dinner, I'm starving."

"Okay," Mon-El agreed, still quiet although visibly more relaxed.

After he left, Kara took a deep breath. She still didn't know how to tell him. But the more she thought about it she realized she actually didn't have to, she could show him instead. Quickly she got dressed, grinning when she pulled a blue tee over her head with the House of El symbol on it. One day soon, she thought, there would be someone else wiggling inside that same shirt, someone far too small to be wearing it.

She padded to the kitchen with socked feet, her hair still wet, leaving stains on her covered back. And she found Mon-El waiting for her on the set table, looking her up and down with a grin.

"You're cute," he breathed out as she leaned down to connect their lips.

Instead of taking her own seat, Kara slipped into Mon-El's lap, making herself comfortable on top of him. "I want food," she whined, stealing his fork and eyeing her options. She needed to act normal otherwise her nerves would once again take over. Plus, she really was hungry.

The two ate slowly, sharing bites, stealing kisses, laughing together. The previous tension had faded completely. The evening rolled quietly, the food disappeared, and after a while they found themselves on the couch, as it was their habit at the end of the day. Their feet were laced, their sides pressed together and Mon-El's head was tucked under Kara's chin as they watched a random movie playing on the TV.

When the end credits rolled, Kara inhaled deeply and grabbed Mon-El's hand. He didn't pay attention at first, just let her do her thing, but when she intertwined their fingers and squeezed he looked up.

"What is it?" he asked her.

Kara didn't respond, she just shook her head and turned the TV off. It was quiet enough now. "Listen," she said, her tone soft, prompting. "How many heartbeats?"

Mon-El furrowed his brows in question, confusion written all over his face. Nevertheless, he did as told. He concentrated, tuning his ears to the heartbeats closest to him. One was his own of course, and immediately he found Kara's, as if he was drawn to it, to her. Then a second later he noticed it, a third one, a quiet little flattering echoing too close to his ear. Impossibly close.

"Kara?" he gasped. He stood straight, his eyes widened and searching within her own. "Is that-" he paused, swallowed, and spoke again. "Is that coming from you?" he wondered.

"It is," Kara confirmed. "There's a little someone in here," she pointed to her stomach, a smile adorning her face. " _Our_ little someone."

"Our littl-" Mon-El repeated. The words got stuck in his throat, his voice faded. "Oh my God," he gasped again, the realization  _finally_ dawning on him. Slowly, hesitantly, he brought a hand to her tummy, afraid to touch yet eager to. When he did he released a trembling breath.

"I only found out today," Kara shared, lifting a hand to brush dark hair on the back of Mon-El's neck. She gave him a minute, watched him be shocked and amazed, and when he caressed her clothed skin where he had rested his palm, she let out a shaky breath too. Until that moment she hadn't been sure how he'd take the news but the current sight soothed her anxiety, her fear. He was smiling.

"I love you," Mon-El promised Kara a minute later. He cupped her face, stroked her cheeks, and kissed her deeply as if to prove his words. "I love you so much," he said again, breathless and in awe.

Kara leaned her head to the side, her lips stretching upwards. "I love you too," she whispered and let Mon-El peck her forehead again and again, continually, until she laughed.


	4. Unsteady (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: “Their eyes locked and he didn't let her look away, he didn't let her look at the blood, he didn't let her lose control. He spoke and spoke and spoke, as if his own mind wasn't reeling, as if his own heart wasn't being torn in two. The fear of loss loomed over both of their heads, but he didn't let Kara drown in it, he kept her afloat, even when Mon-El himself could barely breathe as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Kara ALMOST has a miscarriage, don't read if that upsets you or makes you uncomfortable.

Morning came with sharp light and warm covers. It came with tangled limbs and steady breaths. It came with soft touches and murmured words. It came and settled and as the hours passed so did the heavy darkness in a Kryptonian's bedroom. The world awoke, the city burst to life and the two occupants sleeping on the bed in the middle of the room shifted even closer to one another, so close you couldn't tell where the first one ended and the second one began.

"Mornin'," Kara mumbled, sleepily, lazily, and she rubbed one eye as she let out a small yawn.

Mon-El hummed in response and pressed a kiss into her hair, blonde locks tickling his nose. He smiled and squeezed her a little tighter, pressed her against him a little stronger, as they both took their time easing out of sleep.

Kara was used to waking up like that, with Mon-El wrapped around her, with his breath caressing her skin, with her own body chasing his own, clinging to him. She was used to waking up in a tangled mess, the covers kicked away during the night, her shirt riddled up and her hair draped across her face. What she wasn't used to was Mon-El's thumb rubbing the slight swell of her lower belly absentmindedly, even though there was nothing there yet, not a bump, not a noticeable roundness. She was used to sneaky fingers ghosting over her exposed breasts beneath her pajama top, she was used to tricky caresses across her bare hips and travelling to her inner thighs, she was used to hungry touches, ones that held promise for more. But she wasn't used to this gentleness, this innocence. Mon-El touched her and there were no underlying meanings behind the act, no fervored innuendos. He just touched her, content with only that, soft in a way that of course Kara was familiar with but still surprised her. She hadn't expected it.

"Are you going to work today?" Mon-El asked, blinking for the first time and readjusting his head on the pillow.

"Not at CatCo," Kara replied and whined when Mon-El shifted to lie on his back and withdrew his arm from around her.

The Daxamite chuckled and let her pull it back in place.

"We still have to go into the DEO though," the blonde added. She sat up a moment later, turning in bed to take a good look at her boyfriend, and smiled when their eyes met. Then she reached out and smoothed a creased line stretching across his cheek that had probably formed from the pillowcase.

"Shower or breakfast?" Mon-El asked, not sure whether they had time for both, and he turned his face slightly to press a kiss against Kara's palm.

"Shower then breakfast," Kara replied and let him use her thigh as a pillow when he maneuvered again.

Mon-El used a hand to lift Kara's top, to expose that little swell of her belly again, and pecked her there softly. He whispered something in his native tongue, something too quiet and muffled for Kara to understand, and before she could ask him about it he'd sat up and pulled her close, catching her by surprise. Kara's startled squeal got lost inside Mon-El's mouth when their lips crashed. That kiss wasn't soft, wasn't quick, wasn't gentle. It was slow but eager, greedy but with direction, loud but not desperate. Mon-El groaned when Kara bit his bottom lip, Kara tagged at Mon-El's hair when he squeezed her hips, and before either of them were ready to pull apart, they were interrupted by a beeping alarm clock.

**~**

About an hour later, the two walked into the DEO, side by side but not touching. Kara was dressed in her suit, Mon-El was clad in his DEO uniform, and everything about their image was a stark contrast to those previous morning moments. Gone was the grinning blonde with the ogling eyes, the enamoured man with the wandering hands. Now they kept a safe distance apart, though not too wide. Now they were serious and focused instead of lost in each other. Now they ran the place, the two most powerful figures in the building, although they still accepted orders and answered each one with a _Yes, Sir_.

"Supergirl, I have a job for you," J'onn said as soon as he spotted them. He gave Mon-El a nod as a form of greeting but his face was set in a hardened mask, an emotionless countenance.

"What is it?" Kara asked. She knew after looking at the Martian that whatever she needed to do was serious enough, though not so urgent she had to be called in earlier. The thought relieved her a bit.

"We have a bit of a situation downtown. Armed robbery at the National City Bank with six hostages, one of whom is considered to be a suspect of alien origin in disguise. The NCPD is handling the situation as we speak but we need someone there to take control in case things get out of hand," J'onn explained.

Kara nodded, it sounded easy enough. "I'll finish up with that and then I can help you with that Kryptonian AI you've been struggling to decode," she said.

"Be careful," Mon-El joined in as the blonde rushed forward, ready to fly out the balcony.

Kara stalled for a second to glance at him and offered a tiny smile. "I'll see you later," she promised.

**~**

Surprisingly, what had sounded easy to Kara had turned out to be more trouble than anyone could have anticipated. Mon-El watched the live feed from the big monitors, saw Supergirl land outside the bank, talk with the police and wait as she'd been instructed. He knew Kara didn't want to intervene while there were people's lives at stake, knew she could sweep in and end it all within a matter of minutes but she wanted to give the criminals the benefit of the doubt. She was too good some times, always willing to give out second chances even when someone didn't deserve that much. So she waited and Mon-El watched, a part of him filling with pride.

But then something happened, a gunshot rang out, and Kara's face hardened, her patience fading. She rushed inside, ignoring the police, ignoring the people outside, ignoring the chaos. Only minutes later, one by one, the hostages walked out, alive and unharmed. And then the prime suspect walked out too, cuffed and with a bruised face, but Supergirl didn't. There were still shots echoing, inside of the bank a total disaster taking place, but nobody dared step in or close enough to get a look. And Mon-El himself couldn't fly out there to check on Kara, because of those gunshots, because of that damn lead allergy he still had, even though he'd been taking dosages of a cure for years.

It took some time for Winn to hack into the bank's security cameras and grant them with insight on Supergirl's whereabouts. By the time she popped up on the screens, she'd already taken the suspected alien out, but she was crouched on the floor, a pained expression clouding her features. She didn't look hurt, not even dirty, as if the fight with that alien hadn't even happened. Yet something was terribly wrong, it had to be.

Mon-El's heart clenched inside his chest when he saw her. He didn't know what to think, what to fear, and of course he was on his feet right away, ready to run to Kara. But right before he flew out, J'onn called out to him and stopped him, gesturing to the screen. Again, Mon-El watched as Kara stood on shaky legs, a grimace permanently plastered onto her beautiful face. She wobbled for a couple of steps, clenched her jaw, and crashed through the ceiling and into the open sky. Then she flew towards what was surely the DEO's direction.

At that moment, Alex ran to Mon-El's side, her eyes widened, her face flashed. "What's going on, what happened?" she asked.

Mon-El shook his head. "We don't know," he said and tightened his fists. "One second she was fine and the next she was on her knees, but I didn't notice any injuries."

Alex furrowed her brows in confusion but nodded nonetheless. They both watched Kara's signal on another screen, pinpointing her exact location, and held their breaths until the red dot stopped right where they were supposed to be.

A second later Kara stumbled in, her cheeks wet from her tears and her hands visibly trembling. "Alex," she croaked out. "I'm bleeding. Alex I'm-" she glanced down between her still unsteady legs. "I'm bleeding," she cried, her voice broken and dripping with hopelessness.

"The baby," Alex realized with a mumble and it was that pair of words that set everything in motion again.

Mon-El broke out of his momentary trance and ran to Kara, to carry her in his arms and straight to the med bay. Alex ran right behind them as she called for assistance. And J'onn, not having enough time to process the news, started barking out orders; for the doctors to help Supergirl, for a group of agents to return to the robbery scene and take the heroine's place, for everyone else to return to their jobs.

Chaos ensued where Supergirl layed, and even though Alex was trying to reassure her sister, Kara granted in pain and trembled with fear. The more she looked at her own blood between her legs, the more she felt the sharp pain like stabs in her lower abdomen, the closer she got to losing control, succumbing to her shock, to her panic. Luckily, Mon-El was still there, letting her crash his hand in her super-strong grip, whispering comforting words in her own mother tongue. As if he'd known it, the sound of his broken Kryptonian captured Kara's attention, and then Mon-El used a hand to keep her face turned solely to him. Their eyes locked and he didn't let her look away, he didn't let her look at the blood, he didn't let her lose control. He spoke and spoke and spoke, as if his own mind wasn't reeling, as if his own heart wasn't being torn in two. The fear of loss loomed over both of their heads, but he didn't let Kara drown in it, he kept her afloat, even when Mon-El himself could barely breathe as well.


	5. Unsteady (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Kara ALMOST has a miscarriage, don't read if that upsets you or makes you uncomfortable.

Kara awoke with a start, with a choked breath, with a scream trapped behind her closed lips. Her head felt heavy, foggy, and when she tried to sit up she realized her legs were numb and uncooperative. She looked around, narrowing her eyes when the sun lamps blinded her momentarily, and searched for someone familiar. She couldn't see anyone, and the room was dark, which probably meant she'd been out for some time. That wasn't her problem though. Her problem was that she couldn't remember falling asleep, her mind was hazy and she couldn't recall how she had ended up passed out on that hard mattress.

The blonde racked her brain for the faintest reminiscent as she checked herself over. Her suit was gone, replaced by a DEO-labeled t-shirt that she was pretty sure belonged to Alex, and her lower half was covered by one of those blue blankets the DEO kept a stack of in the med bay. Only when Kara moved her hand to lift the blanket did she notice the IV sticking out of her hand, a green-colored needle glowing underneath the tape and tube. Kryptonite.

The world came into focus more and more as the seconds passed. The haziness faded slowly and Kara started getting bits and pieces of her day back. She remembered a robbery and an alien she had to fight, she remembered an uncomfortable ache blossoming into a sharp pain at her lower abdomen when she failed to avoid a punch straight to her stomach, she remembered feeling warm blood trickling down her thigh when she stood to her feet, ready to fly to the DEO. But she hadn't felt that punch, why had she bled? And that uncomfortable ache, had it appeared then or had it been there before the fight, before she'd even put on her suit? Kara didn't know but she knew that it wasn't there at the moment. The only pain she could currently feel was the dull sting of the kryptonite needle and the pressure in her head, a headache perhaps.

But then it hit her. The pain, the blood, the panic, Mon-El's arms, her constant tears. It hit her like another punch to the gut and this time she felt it. This time it hurt. Kara gasped and pushed herself up on shaky arms. She wasn't sure what she was about to do, considering her legs still felt stiff and numb, but she had to do something, she had to find Alex. She'd fly to her if need be.

"Alex!" the blonde called out as she fumbled with her cover.

It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for someone to run straight through the door, as if they'd already been waiting for her call. Kara looked up and released a breath. It was Mon-El. Admittedly, he wasn't the one she'd called for, but perhaps at the moment she actually needed him more.

Kara took a deep breath. "You're okay," she said.

Mon-El brushed a blond strand away from Kara's face and kissed her forehead. "We're all okay," he promised, "all three of us."

Kara shook her head and sniffed. "There was blood," she said with a trembling voice, the fear flooding her anew as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to listen. She tried to find that quiet little flatter, chasing the memory of it until she could hear it again. When she found it, with her eyes still closed, she started tapping her fingers, mimicking its rhythm. She wasn't sure why she did that, but maybe she was afraid of losing it again, afraid of what that could mean.

"Kara," Mon-El coaxed her to look at him again. He lifted her chin with a finger and held her face in both of his hands. "It's okay, the baby is fine."

"I can hear the heartbeat," Kara smiled dolefully, her eyelids flattering open at last. Her gaze was wet but bright, the blue vivid and absolutely breathtaking. "For a second I thought-" she gulped. "Mon-El, what did I do?"

Mon-El shushed her and pulled her gently into his arms. He felt her crying noiselessly into his shoulder but he didn't say anything, he only held on tighter. "You didn't do anything," he told her, "it's not your fault."

"But I-" Kara started again but the words wouldn't come out. "I almost-" a sob racked her body and she grasped onto Mon-El's shoulders, gripping his shirt in tight fists, struggling to fill her lungs with enough oxygen.

"Alex said it wasn't you, you didn't do anything, sometimes women bleed so early in the pregnancy, it happens," Mon-El soothed. He didn't know what else to tell her, what else to do to comfort her. "You need to take it easy from now on though," he added, his tone low.

Kara nodded. "I was so scared," she mumbled, afraid to say it loudly in case her voice cracked. Plus she didn't really like admitting such notions, it made her feel vulnerable.

"I know," Mon-El replied. "How are you feeling?"

With a sniffle, Kara pulled away from him, using a hand to wipe her cheeks. "Tired," she answered his question. "But I'm fine," she added.

Mon-El nodded, skeptical and searching inside Kara's eyes to make sure she was telling the truth, to tame his growing concern.

"I'm sorry," the blonde spoke again and Mon-El sighed, shaking his head.

"You shouldn't be," he told her. "I love you," he promised, using those three familiar words he'd pull like an ace from his sleeve when he knew nothing else could help, nothing else could get her to listen.

Kara smiled a broken smile. "I don't know what I'd do without you," she bit her lip.

"Let's never find out," Mon-El said back and kissed her, mostly to get her teeth to ease from her bottom lip but also because he needed to. As strong as he was trying to be for both of their sakes, he'd been scared too, even though he couldn't tell Kara, he couldn't burden her with his own feelings too.

**~**

When Alex slipped into Kara's room night had fallen outside and the stars had come out of their hiding place. Mon-El had gone to fetch some new clothes for the tired blonde so Kara was sitting alone on the sunbed, deep in thought as it showed from the crinkle between her brows.

"Hey," the redhead said quietly, walking up to her sister and sitting on the edge of the mattress. She faced Kara and took one of her hands. "You feeling better?" she asked.

Kara nodded, inhaling deeply and making her shoulders rise. "What happened?"

"Nothing you should worry about," Alex assured.

"Mon-El was being cryptic too," Kara shot her sister an accusing glare.

Alex chuckled in response, her face softening. "Really, everything's fine, you just had us a little worried for a moment, you know?"

Kara sighed upon hearing the words and pursed her lips. "How long was I asleep for?" she wondered.

"A few hours," Alex said.

"Did you use kryptonite on me? My head is really confusing right now but I remember a glint of green."

"I'm sorry," Alex apologized. "I didn't want to use it but you were freaking out and I didn't know what else to do. I didn't hurt you, you know I'd never do that, but you wouldn't let anyone touch you and I had to find out what was wrong."

"That's-" Kara nodded in understanding, "That's okay, I get it, I was pretty out of it," she admitted. "But what happened, what was wrong?"

"Nothing really," Alex repeated her previous word. "Apparently Kryptonians experience pregnancy differently than humans. Or maybe it's just you because of the yellow sun," the redhead shrugged a shoulder. "I did a bunch of tests, I thought you were around three or four weeks along but there's a heartbeat already-"

"Yeah, I noticed that," Kara cut in, her tone soft, her eyes sparkling.

Alex nodded with a smile and continued. "Which normally doesn't happen until the sixth week. So in human terms you're just shy of seven weeks pregnant and you're growing much faster than I had expected."

"What about the blood?" Kara asked.

"It's normal, your cervix is growing too fast and your body is trying to adjust. Also, I asked your mom's hologram, which it totally weird by the way, and she said Kryptonian pregnancies lasted up to twelve months, which means that at the rate you're currently going you'll actually give birth at seven months, give or take a couple of weeks."

"Seven months," Kara repeated, eyes squinting as her smile grew. She placed a palm atop her belly and looked down, partly expecting to find a bump there even though she knew her stomach was still flat. (She knew because she'd checked herself in the mirror that morning.)

"Yep," Alex agreed, popping the last letter, and she watched her sister be amazed.

But then, a few seconds later, Kara's face darkened again, a sad look crossing her features. "Alex?" she called and glanced up to see the redhead already looking at her. "What if I'm not a good mom? What if I can't protect my baby because of who I am? What if I can't be enough for them?" Blue eyes glazed over and closed tightly for a long moment.

Alex squeezed Kara's hand. "Oh sweetheart," she started. The truth was she'd been expecting such doubts from the blonde, no matter how well Kara could mask her inner fears, Alex knew her better than to believe such a big change hadn't affected the Kryptonian. Plus, she knew all about Kara's trauma caused by the loss of her family and the anger she held for the decision her mother had made to put her in a pod and send her away. "I don't know if you're going to be the best mom but I know you're going to try to be and right now, or ever for that matter, that's the most you can promise."

"But Supergirl can't be a mother," Kara said, it wasn't an argument but a statement. "It's too dangerous."

Alex's forehead creased in confusion at that. "What are you saying?" she asked.

"I'm saying that my baby deserves the best and Supergirl, for once, can't measure up. But Kara can,  _I_  can, and I want to," the blonde explained, her tone determined, as if there was no doubt clouding her mind anymore. "I'm gonna prove it," she added, "I'm gonna set Supergirl aside because my kid deserves to grow up with their family, my kid deserves better than to be abandoned on a false notion that their mother is trying to save them. My kid deserves better than what I got, I'm not gonna be like my parents, I'm gonna be better." In the end Kara's voice broke and a lone tear rolled down her face. "I'm gonna be better," she repeated and wiped her cheek dry.

"I know you will," Alex agreed, reaching out and pulling Kara into her arms, her heart cracking. She knew Kara's pain would never fade, just like hers hadn't after Jeremiah left them for the second time, but she wished that it would. She wished that now Kara could be happier, lighter. And judging from the way the blonde's hand inevitably fell back to her belly, Alex saw that possibility forming, and she felt it too, because she was a part of it. She was going to be an aunt and that made her more excited than she'd expected to feel.

"We're going shopping tomorrow," Kara said, breaking the silence that had started to spread. The two pulled apart and both smiled with a glint of mischief in their eyes. "I'm going to buy every Supergirl onesie I can get my hands on, you just watch!" the mom-to-be laughed and just like that the atmosphere shifted into that idea of happier and lighter Alex had always wanted her sister to be.


	6. Insecurities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Kara is struggling to deal with the fact that her body is changing and growing in size along with the baby inside of her.

  
Kara huffed as she flopped on the couch, her bare legs stretching and lifting to rest upon the coffee table. She tilted her head back, rubbing her temple with one hand while she used the other to throw her glasses aside. Then she closed her eyes, her upper teeth peeking out to bite on her bottom lip, and she stayed like that, unwilling to move. She was tempted to shatter the mirror she'd just spent ten minutes staring at in the bathroom, and she wanted to tear every piece of clothing she couldn't fit in anymore, but she was trying to act like she didn't care.

Clad in only some loose pajama shorts and her bra, she sat there, annoyed and sad and angry. The sun had set outside, the moon had settled amidst the speckled sky, and as the clock ticked, Kara only fell deeper into her sour mood. She was supposed to be ready by now, she'd had plans, she should've been out the door and on her way to Alex's to drive together to wherever they were meeting Lena and Sam for girls' night. Instead, the blonde was drowning in her self-inflicted misery, having canceled her plans and gotten defeated by a pair of jeans she had tried on but failed to zip up.

Her stomach growled quietly, reminding her of her growing hunger, and Kara placed a palm on her bare belly, stroking a thumb across her stretched skin even though she moved her head to glare at her bump at the same time. Four months along and despite it taking some time she'd finally popped out, so much so that she'd grown two sizes in just as many weeks. Her pregnancy was clearly visible now, and for the most part she didn't try to hide it, quite the opposite actually. She'd bought half a wardrobe of cheesy pregnancy shirts, with cute prints all over and clever quotes. And she wasn't embarrassed to admit she'd already purchased an adorable little pacifier with the Supergirl logo on it. So really, Kara was ecstatic to be a mom, and she wanted to be and do every cliché she could think of as the weeks passed. It was just that sometimes some days were rougher than the rest, and longer than the rest, and all the downsides of her situation would hit her one after the other and she wasn't in the mood to deal with it.

"Stupid jeans," she muttered as she glanced at the pair discarded on the floor, still right where she'd dropped them, in plain view, as if they were mocking her for the fact that she couldn't wear them anymore. Kara shook her head and leaned it back again, grabbing a cushion to cuddle with, or grip on most likely, and let her eyes fall shut once more. She just needed a minute of quietness, just a minute to sort her brain out and convince herself that she was overreacting and that after her baby was born she'd slip back in those damn jeans in no time.

A few minutes later, the door opened and closed, and Kara knew without looking that Mon-El had come home. Without thinking about it, she moved the cushion to cover her middle, suddenly shy and insecure of her appearance. She pulled her legs back and bent her knees to press against her bump, in a feeble attempt to hide whichever over-sized part of her the cushion had left exposed. She didn't speak, didn't acknowledge her boyfriend's arrival, she only frowned further. She wanted to go grab some clothes, to slip into something buggy and large enough that her actual curves wouldn't show, but she knew if she stood now Mon-El would surely notice her in all her half-naked glory. And she didn't want that, not at the moment at least.

"Babe?" Mon-El called from the kitchen as he shrugged out of his jacket. "I thought you said you'd go out tonight."

Kara opened one eye and threw him a side glance. "I changed my mind," she grumbled. She curled more into herself, crossing her arms in front of her chest and hiding her face behind her hair as her chin lowered.

Mon-El observed the blonde with a questioning gaze. He didn't say anything at first, didn't know if he should approach her or just let her be, and his lips tugged downwards as his mind began to spin. Had he done anything to upset her? Had something happened and he'd forgotten about it? Had Kara told him about having a bad day and he'd missed it? Thinking about it, Mon-El couldn't recall any reasonable explanation as to why Kara was currently sulking. But he had to figure out what it was, he had to cheer her up. He hated seeing her like that.

"Kara," he ventured, his voice ringing in a subtle question. He walked closer to her in a slow pace, and when she didn't lift her head to look at him, Mon-El knelt down and tried to untangle her arms with careful movements. "Why are you sad, baby, is something wrong?"

Kara didn't answer, at least not with words. She found his eyes with her wet ones, a crinkle forming between her brows, and leaned in to capture Mon-El's lips with a sigh. She'd rather kiss him than have to talk about what was bothering her, and although she knew it was wrong, Mon-El wouldn't deny her anything, especially when all she actually wanted was him. She counted on exactly that knowledge, and when he tried to pull away, she whined in protest and gripped his hair, forcing his head to stay where she wanted it to. Kara directed the kiss, luring Mon-El in a haze while she stalled. She'd perfected the act long ago, but unfortunately, Mon-El had also learned all her tricks and cheats, so she knew she didn't have much time before he caught on and started asking questions again. Still, the blonde didn't give in that easily, as she deepened the kiss and moaned in disapproval every time Mon-El tried to soften it and ease them to a halt.

"Kara," Mon-El spoke again, the sound muffled and fading quickly between their joined mouths. He rested a hand on her cheek and let her have him, for however long she wanted, but he hadn't been fooled. He knew something was bothering her and it wasn't because she hadn't kissed him all day. He moved his other hand to her waist and he squeezed gently as soon as he found her smooth skin, and when he tried to take the cushion from between them to inch even closer to her, Kara quickly gasped and pulled away from him. That seemed to be the move that broke the spell, although for the life of him, Mon-El couldn't understand why. It wasn't like Kara to shy away from his touch, to hide from his eyes or keep secrets, they'd never been like that so it felt kind of too late to start now.

Their eyes locked, in a similar way their lips had, but there was tension now. Mon-El had his brows raised in question, his hands resting on Kara's thighs but not daring to move an inch, and Kara was biting her lip in discomfort, her fingers twitching nervously. Mon-El noticed and glanced down at her fidgeting motions, and when Kara saw that she stopped, shifting her butt to create more distance between them, although she immediately hit the back of the couch without success.

"Kara," Mon-El uttered the name for the third time, now worried and more confused than ever. Had she just tried to get away from him? "Will you tell me what's wrong? I'm starting to worry," he said.

The blonde shook her head, "Sorry," she mumbled, "It's just-" she paused and swallowed, her eyes glistening although that was out of her control. She didn't want to cry, didn't even feel like it, but the urge was suddenly there, adding to her annoyance. Mon-El waited patiently, his thumb brushing her thigh lightly, reminding her that he hadn't pulled his hands off of her. And his eyes were just as gentle, as warm, as they stared at her expectantly. Kara let out a meager breath and decided to talk at last. "I've gotten too big," she said, and her shoulders relaxed, as if the words had taken some weight off her on their way out.

"What?" Mon-El wondered, puzzled and a little lost.

"I'm too big," Kara repeated. "My clothes don't fit me anymore, and my body is changing so fast, and it annoys me," she complained, a pout on her face and a slight tremble in her tone. "I feel so uncomfortable," she added.

Mon-El nodded, finally understanding, although not really. He got the discomfort part, he'd noticed as Kara had started to dress differently according to her new shape, but the size bit he didn't quite catch. He'd seen her, he'd watched her, he'd loved her, entirely and from every angle, so many times, and he knew she hadn't changed that much. Surely her stomach had protruded, and the expected roundness couldn't be missed, but other than that she was the same. Perhaps she was even more beautiful now, with her wider smiles and her sparkling eyes, and the way her skin had started to glow with that faint blush, that glistening happiness that he'd learned only maternity could give her. But Mon-El had kissed every inch of her, and he'd held her every night the last four months, he'd have known if she'd felt different to him, and even if she had it wouldn't matter, it'd still be Kara. No matter what, he still got breathless at her sight, still wanted to explore every inch of her, still felt that intense mix of soft affection and wild lust for her. She still had him in a daze, so he couldn't exactly see where the problem was.

Mon-El nodded again and took Kara's face in his hands. "You're perfect," he told her, and it wasn't just a reassurance, it was his truth. He'd never seen her as anything less than perfect, and he could be biased, he was still head over heels in love with her after all, but a truth was a truth nonetheless. It still applied. "Every day, I continue to be in awe of you," he said softly, eyes locked, mouths close, breaths shared. They stayed like that until his words dawned, until Kara's lips twitched into a shy smile, until her eyes flashed brighter and she sighed.

"Rao," she breathed. "I love you," she said and threw the cushion aside, shifting till her feet touched the floor on either side of Mon-El and she lowered herself onto his lap. "I love you so much," Kara continued, her arms wrapping around his neck, squeezing, their lips only centimeters apart. She kissed him then, to prove her words, to satisfy her need for him, and this time Mon-El didn't try to pull away, didn't attempt to sooth her. Instead he encouraged her, with wandering hands that had suddenly found too much naked skin, too much exposed Kara to touch, and he wanted all of her, he couldn't get enough.

Later, much much later, after their stomachs had been filled and their hunger for each other had been fulfilled too, the latter in a whole other sense, they layed tangled between the bedsheets, both naked now and still trying to catch their breaths. Mon-El rested his head beneath Kara's breast, occasionally pressing kisses to her stomach, and drew random patterns with his fingers on her skin, lower, where Alex had showed him the baby was supposed to be located inside Kara. They were both quiet and soft, a little tired, a little drunk in each other, the fervorous need satisfied, the unrestrained desperation calmed, and all that was left was that peace in their minds and that tingling warmth in their hearts.

Slowly, Mon-El lifted his head and brought his mouth close to Kara's belly button, his palm covering the swell underneath. "Hey sweetheart," he whispered, "Do you feel like kicking tonight or should I ask again tomorrow?" He waited a bit, genuinely expecting some kind of response even though he knew he wouldn't be getting any, and kissed the bump with a smile after his words got ignored. "She's probably sleeping," he shrugged, turning to look at Kara.

The blonde raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on the pronoun, it wasn't the first time he'd used it. For some reason, Mon-El insisted that the baby was a girl, and Kara let him believe it. The truth was, she herself pictured a boy, but it didn't really matter. In the end, one of them would be right, that was the only thing she could be certain of.

"Sleeping, huh?" she humored him, reaching a hand out to brush Mon-El's hair, a soft smile pulling at her lips.

Mon-El nodded continually. "She must be," he said, convinced, as if that was the only logical explanation that their four month old fetus hadn't been kicking yet.

"Right," Kara muttered in response, her eyes laughing while she tried to hold the actual sound back. Mon-El noticed anyway.

"Don't mock me," he said, moving to hover over her, his fingers reaching to her side and tickling lightly. A giggle escaped her and Mon-El chased it with his mouth, capturing the ones that followed after when their lips crashed together yet again. 


	7. Moods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Kara's pregnant, tired, and definitely in a mood.

  
The day was almost gone, almost done, as the sun shone weakly, barely peeking behind the horizon. The gentle breeze outside grew colder by the minute, and the lights turned on, one after the other, mirroring the scattered stars above. The CatCo building stood bright within the heart of the city, illuminated even though most employees had headed out already. But the top floor, as it was usual, as it was customary, was still busy. Some people just didn't get the idea of 9 to 5 it seemed.

Kara walked into Cat's office, nowadays used by James, currently occupied by Lena, with a stack of papers in her hands. Her steps were heavier than usual, her pace slower than normal, and when she set the stack atop the desk she lifted a hand to rub at her eyes. She knew it was getting late, and she should be going home by now, but there were so many things to be done, so much work still waiting for her.

Sitting on one of the couches in the office, Kara leaned back, needing to take some weight off her feet for a minute or two. The place was silent, she was alone, Lena having gone to the bathroom for a bit. So Kara sighed and relaxed, letting her tiredness show now that there was nobody there to see. The truth was she wasn't feeling at the top of her game at the moment, her feet ached and her head was pounding, but she didn't want to say anything. Everyone was too quick to worry lately, her four-month-old baby bump being the main reason why. So she remained silent, trying to mask her unease. After all, it wasn't something worth fretting over, it was just her being a normal pregnant woman and her body getting accustomed to the new situation.

Placing one hand across her protruding stomach, Kara looked down sternly. "You're no fun today," she whined, stroking at the skin beneath her dress. Gone were the days of skinny jeans and tight skirts, nowadays she tended to wear flowing dresses and comfortable button-ups. Not that she'd gotten that big, it was still early after all, but Kara had never been her current size before and everything annoyed her. Mostly the buttons, although the zips she barely tolerated as well.

"Are you okay?" Lena asked, marching in, her blouse rolled up to the elbows. Her brows furrowed and she had a look of concern across her eyes and well, Kara wanted to kick her own ass when she saw it. She'd been so lost inside her head that she hadn't heard her friend approaching.

"I'm fine," Kara lied, rolling her eyes and moving to stand up. The motion must have been too fast however, because as soon as she was on her feet, she wobbled on the spot, losing her balance for a moment.

"You're clearly not." Lena rushed to the blonde's side and grabbed her arms to steady her.

"It's nothing," Kara insisted but let herself be guided back down on the couch. Her sudden dizziness made her vision blur a little and she couldn't trust her feet to keep her upright. "Just tired," she added and rubbed her temples.

"Stay put," Lena said and went to fill a glass with water. She offered it to Kara and the alien gulped it down gingerly.

"I'm gonna pee seven times for this, you just watch," the blonde groaned, setting the empty glass on the table.

Lena laughed at her friend, having grown used to that moodiness for the past couple of months she'd known Kara was pregnant. Actually, come to think of it, everyone close to Kara had had to, the blonde hadn't really kept it a secret that some days having a baby growing inside of you could be quite a challenge.

"Are you feeling better now?" the brunette asked, taking her previous spot again.

Kara nodded. "I should probably call it a day," she said and stood again, this time slower. "I'll have Mon-El pick me up," she added and went to grab her phone to do just that.

Lena glanced out the window, noticing the darkening sky for the first time. "It is getting late," she noted. "And we're the only ones left."

Kara shrugged a shoulder at that, knowing as well as Lena did that it wasn't the first time the two had stayed behind. It was rare that one left earlier than the other now that Kara had put Supergirl on hold. Usually she and Lena were the last ones out.

**~**

Thirty minutes later Kara was lying on a different couch, in her loft this time. Her bare feet were propped up on a cushion and she had changed in sweatpants and a buggy shirt. Still, her bump showed, and she had a hand glued there. Earlier on in the pregnancy she'd told herself that she wouldn't be one of those women, she wouldn't become a cliche, always having one hand on her belly. But she had failed, big time, because as soon as her belly had grown enough to be noticeable, as soon as the idea of a baby became a palpable reality, she'd caved. So now Kara was one of those women, she had become the cliche.

"Are you comfortable?" Mon-El asked her, jogging in from the bathroom, his eyes frenzied. They'd been in the house for all of ten minutes and he'd already made her food, run out to get her extra pot stickers and cheesecake when she complained she was still hungry, and prepared her a hot bath. Even as he asked that he was rocking on the heels of his feet, ready to complete another task, whatever she might be needing at the moment.

Kara rolled her eyes at the sight. "I'm fine," she said and made a motion for Mon-El to get away from the TV as he'd been blocking half the screen. Truth be told, Kara hadn't really been watching, but she was trying to, because if she didn't find something to busy herself with there was a good chance Mon-El would be sleeping on the couch tonight.

Yes, she was in a mood, again. She didn't really know why, or rather she didn't know what annoyed her the most. She'd had to change her ways so much in the last few months and it hadn't been easy, all that time later and she was clearly still struggling. Plus her hormones. They could be a real pain some days.

Mon-El moved out of the way, unfazed and silent. He quickly went back in the bathroom to switch the faucet off before the tub overflowed and then slipped on the couch with Kara. Without a word and with the gentlest touch he took her feet and placed them on his lap, and when she didn't complain he started rubbing at her ankles, knowing they were her most sore spots.

Kara watched him with guilty eyes, and even though the annoyance was still there, she fell in love. Because there he was, patient and loving as ever, taking care of her even through her moods, without a hint of unwillingness. And she knew, despite the fact that she hadn't told him, that he knew she hadn't been feeling too well. She knew because normally Mon-El was more playful, more clingy, more touchy, more eager to push her buttons, but tonight he was different. Tonight he hadn't said much, apart from asking her what she needed, and he hadn't tried to invade her personal space or done anything she hadn't specifically told him to. Tonight he was too careful, too gentle, too quiet.

Kara sighed. "Mon-El?" she called, her voice low.

"Hmm?" his eyes shot up to look at her instantly.

"Come here," Kara prompted and nodded once when she noticed Mon-El hesitating. When he moved beside her, she wrapped both arms around him and nuzzled her face in his neck. "I'm fine," she said.

"Are you sure?" Mon-El asked, his brows furrowed. "You didn't look so good earlier," he noted.

Kara pressed a kiss against his skin. "I'm fine," she repeated, her hands wandering, her fingers lifting his shirt up.

Mon-El didn't stop her, didn't even try to, and when Kara pulled his shirt over his head, he simply made it easier for her. At the moment he was compliant and tentative and he didn't care about being anything else, not when a pair of comets looked straight at him and held him captive.

"Take a bath with me," Kara said and waited until Mon-El mumbled a soft  _okay_. With a sweet smile, she pecked his lips and whispered, "carry me."


	8. First kick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: The baby's first kick...

  
Clad in pajama pants and a thin T-shirt, barefoot and with her hair a tangled mess draped over one shoulder, Kara padded to the kitchen. She yawned loudly and rubbed one eye, squinting the other as the brightly lit room blinded her momentarily. She had no idea what time it was and glancing out the window didn't give her a proper answer, the gloomy weather leaving her just as clueless as she'd been half a minute earlier. But she didn't really care, it was Sunday, and that meant she didn't have anywhere to get to, no urgent responsibilities rushing her.

Seeing Mon-El standing in front of the stove, a spatula in one hand and a fork in the other, was a familiar sight to her. She'd woken up only to find him like that one too many mornings, and every time the image pulled a smile from her lips. Although Mon-El's back was turned to her, Kara could almost see the look of concentration on his face, and she knew he was biting his lip as he flipped a pancake and let it fall back down in the pan with a small thud. It was routine, it was their kind of normal, so the blonde did exactly what she'd done every other Sunday morning. She scuffed to her boyfriend quietly, gingerly reaching out and wrapping her arms around his waist, clinging to his back and breathing in his smell.

"Good morning," she mumbled as she kissed above his shoulder blade, another smile creeping up her face when she heard the fork hitting the counter with a clank and Mon-El's now free hand squeezed hers.

"Morning babe," he offered a soft greeting in return, turning around to see Kara and hold her properly. Gazes locked and lips met, gently and noiselessly, as if the moment was only theirs to savor. And when they pulled apart, Mon-El slid a palm to caress the bump between them, large enough now that it almost nudged him due to how close he and Kara were standing.

"What are you making?" Kara asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Pancakes," Mon-El replied simply. "But if you're craving something else I can make it for you," he added.

Kara nodded and pecked his lips once more, thanking him without words. "Bacon?" she suggested, brows raising innocently.

"Sure," Mon-El laughed and turned his attention back to the food.

Kara took a seat on a stool and watched him, sleep still clinging to her limps and softening her senses. She felt movement within her, just subtle nudges and twists of her stomach, and she looked down with sparkling eyes. A hand caressed her belly as she felt butterflies, already in love with the little sunshine she'd recently started to really feel.

"I think someone else wants bacon too, I can feel him dancing in there," the blonde chuckled.

Mon-El turned his head sideways, briefly glancing at Kara, and quirked a brow. "Getting excited at the prospect of food? Wow, I can't tell whom she takes after," he teased in response and didn't miss the roll of his girlfriend's eyes.

It was a game of some sort, a playful argument they'd fallen into. Kara said 'he', Mon-El said 'she', they stuck to their own wishful thinking but didn't bother correcting the other. They couldn't know anyway, no human-made machine could see through Kara's skin so Alex, or any doctor, could predict the baby's gender. And Kara kind of liked the mystery of it, the surprise. She liked passing by the stores and looking at newborn clothing and imagining different people in blue and pink. She didn't really care about the gender, and she knew neither did Mon-El, but there was something charming about listening to him ramble on and on about his little girl and how he was going to teach her everything and show her the world. Kara fell even more in love with him every time he got that dreamy look in his eyes, picturing their daughter, and she didn't want to ruin it for him, even though she still used every chance she got to insist the baby was a boy.

Mon-El turned the stove off, put the spatula and pan in the sink, and placed a plate in front of Kara. There was enough food for the both of them, but at the moment she didn't want to it. She'd just noticed the barely audible music playing in the background, though to her alien ears it was loud enough. She didn't know how she hadn't realized that the radio was playing before, but she did realize as soon as a familiar melody reached her ears.

 _You look so wonderful in your dress_  
_I love your hair like that_  
_The way it falls on the side of your neck_  
_Down your shoulders and back_

"Oh, I love this song!" she enthused and stood, quickly walking around the table and reaching for Mon-El's hand before he had time to sit. "Come on, I want to dance," she urged him.

Mon-El grinned at her and obeyed, letting her drag him to the open space between the kitchen and the living room. He pulled away only to jog to the radio and turn up the volume and then returned by Kara's side.

 _Should this be the last thing I see_  
_I want you to know it's enough for me_  
_'Cause all that you are is all that I'll ever need_

The music flowed in the room, Kara's arms wrapped around Mon-El's neck and his own holding onto her waist. Mon-El let the blonde guide him, let her ease him into the rhythm of her slow, swaying motions, and as the singer repeated his love, he leaned in to mumble the same words into Kara's ear.

 _So in love_  
_So in love_  
_So in love_

Their foreheads connected afterwards, both of them humming as their eyes locked. Mon-El continued to mumble the words when he noticed Kara's face lit up upon hearing his hushed voice.

 _You look so beautiful in this light_  
_Your silhouette over me_  
_The way it brings out the blue in your eyes_  
_Is the Tenerife Sea_

He "sang" to her and playfully kissed her cheek, repeatedly, until Kara laughed and gently pushed him away. "You sap," she commented.

Mon-El shrugged happily and twirled her, pulling her back and to him right after. Kara's bump ruined his plan though, needing its own space and preventing them from crashing into each other. Glancing down, they both laughed briefly and pretended to dance some more.

 _Lumière, darling_  
_Lumière over me_  
_Lumière, darling_  
_Lumière over me_

They kissed, again and again, one proper, one teasing, one peck, one playful, dazed and lost in one another for those four minutes the song played. Nothing else existed past their shared breaths and their joined figures, the world forgotten, the rain falling outside in miserable thuds, ignored by the two. Mon-El picked Kara up, an arm underneath her knees while the other supported her back, and he swirled, chasing her laughs and squeals. And as the melody started to fade into its last notes, as the blonde mimicked Mon-El and sang to him the very last verse of the song, she felt a flutter at her stomach.

"Oh my goodness," she gasped, dragging a hand from Mon-El's shoulder to her bump, stunned and wide-eyed.

"What, what's wrong?" Mon-El stressed, sobering up. He stopped still and looked at Kara with a stormy gaze.

"I felt a kick."

"What?"

Kara buried her face in the crook of Mon-El's neck, her smile wide enough it could break her cheeks. "I felt a kick," she repeated and pulled back again so Mon-El could see her.

They moved to the living room and Mon-El lowered Kara on the couch, a hand immediately reaching for her belly. "Here," the blonde guided his palm to the spot she'd just felt a second tap. "You felt that?" she asked.

"Yeah," Mon-El said, breathless and in awe. He'd been waiting for that moment for weeks, to finally feel those flutters Kara kept talking about. "She's strong," he grinned, his hand glued to Kara's bump, impatiently waiting for the subtle kicks. He didn't dare move, didn't dare breathe, didn't dare take his eyes away from that special spot, afraid that their baby would move again and he'd miss it.

Kara nodded at him, cupping his face and stroking his cheek with her thumb. She was enraptured, completely enamored with the way Mon-El looked at the moment. The joy was so pure, so genuine, in his softened expression. And the spark in his eyes, which had been so rare the last few years, shone so bright now that the sight had taken her breath away. He looked so happy, full of life and hope and awe, and Kara had never thought that a simple thing like their baby's first kick would bring so much out of him. She'd never thought that despite everything, all the hardships and the pain and the loneliness, all the heartbreak and the loss and the darkness, the only thing he needed to light up was this; her and their baby. That was enough, she realized, and she could wholeheartedly understand it, because Kara herself didn't need much more either. That baby,  _their_  baby, had become the center of their world so fast it should be impossible. But it wasn't, thank Rao it wasn't.

Mon-El lifted Kara's shirt up slowly, caressing at her skin as he watched closely. Another song played quietly in the background, the rain kept falling thick and angry outside, and their breakfast was getting cold. Yet none of that mattered, didn't even cross their minds. They both watched, Mon-El still caressing and Kara gently prompting, her voice standing out above all meaningless noises, and then a couple tiny bumps appeared, barely outlining two fingers or two toes, and the couple gasped.

"This is amazing," Mon-El whispered, still awed, still dazed.

"I know," Kara said back, and with that she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and brought their lips together, in a kiss so intense it left both of their hearts racing. "We did that," she added when they broke apart to breathe and then kissed Mon-El again for good measure.


	9. Welcome (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Kara gives birth and baby Alura's first interactions with her parents.

  
The moon stood proudly amidst the darkened sky, a bright jewel in an otherwise dull and depressing canvas. No stars could be seen tonight, the city's polluted atmosphere taking away from their beauty, rendering their light too weak to pass through the toxic fog. A chilly breeze slipped through the opened window, the curtains swaying in a forced welcome, and although Kara couldn't get cold, she pulled at her sweater to cover her unaffected form.

With uninterested eyes she stared ahead, at the city stretching out in front of her, a view familiar to Kara from every possible angle. She'd seen every corner of that city, had run and walked it block by block. She had flown over it and studied it from high above and up close. She knew it, knew its secrets and its best spots, knew the loudest and quietest parts of it. She knew it like the back of her hand, really. And she loved it. She loved how it looked early in the morning, as it struggled to catch the faint light of the still half-hidden sun. And she loved how it shone late into the night, how it buzzed with different kinds of music blasting from every neighborhood and welcomed her with exciting eyes watching from the streets whenever she stopped mid-flight to cherish the image. Still, no matter how much Kara loved the city, at the moment she couldn't appreciate it. It was still beautiful, bright and loud in all the right ways to draw her attention and leave her stunned. But to her it felt empty tonight, just like it'd had for the past week. The noises hurt her ears, the lights blinded her eyes and the sounds of laughter and random squeals only made her feel lonely.

She wasn't alone, and she hadn't been for the past month, truth be told. Her due date was close now, although nobody could estimate exactly how close. Alex had tried, but Kara's invulnerable physic and impenetrable skin hadn't given the older Danvers sister much to work with. Kara had used her x-ray vision on her own self, she'd checked to see whether her baby had moved into the appropriate position before entering the outside world, but she was no doctor. So that left them all a little clueless, buzzing with nerves and anticipation, not being able to do anything other than wait and try to be prepared at all times, day after day.

Albeit, Kara hadn't been alone for a while, but the one she wanted around at all times was currently gone. Mon-El had flown to Metropolis for a few days, after Clark had asked for help in dealing with an alien group of smugglers. Obviously, in her state, Kara couldn't have gone, so Mon-El had taken her place. He hadn't been supposed to stay for more than a couple of days, National City and Kara herself needing him back as soon as possible, but a hindrance in Clark's plans had required that the Daxamite extended his visit. It'd been a week already, and although Mon-El had tried to convince Kara that he didn't mind flying back and forth between cities so that she wouldn't be without him, the blonde wouldn't have it. She was okay and she could definitely go seven days without seeing him, so of course she couldn't let him waste time and energy on anything other than helping Clark out. Plus, she had Alex, and she didn't mind staying over at her sister's for a bit.

She didn't want to at first, but as hard as Mon-El had been to convince that nothing was going to happen to her while he was away, in the end he'd agreed, albeit cautiously. Alex was a different story however. The older sister had just been an overprotective and overstressed mess during the blonde's pregnancy. Alex was the kind of person who needed to have a plan, to have everything analyzed and mapped out, but in that particular case, with Kara being the first Kryptonian to be carrying a child on Earth, superpowers and unique abilities included, the redhead had been left with too many blind spots. So after Mon-El had left, she'd been even more overbearing, reluctant with the knowledge that Kara would be alone when something they couldn't prepare for could happen at any given moment. In the end, the Kryptonian had begrudgingly agreed to stay with Alex - and Maggie - until her boyfriend returned.

So now, despite the fact that Kara had promised herself she'd be just fine without Mon-El, she couldn't help but miss him. Maybe it was the sight of her sister and her wife together, how they looked so happy and in love while they were trying to cook dinner. It was the simplest, most ordinary thing, but they made it look special. Maggie stood in the kitchen, ingredients and knives and pots all around her, and Alex was trying to be sneaky, to grab bites while her partner wasn't looking. But Maggie caught her every time, and Kara knew that Alex let it happen, just so the couple would get into a playful competition of sorts. They were cute, and while Kara smiled at them, her heart warming up witnessing her sister's happiness, she couldn't help but think of Mon-El. He was the cooker of the two and they'd spent so many mornings and afternoons messing around in their kitchen, Mon-El trying to focus on his recipes while Kara cheekily roamed around him and hid things, making him search and circle around the apartment to find the salt, his favorite knife, the pan he'd left on the stove but had mysteriously disappeared. She just didn't want to spend another night alone, that was all, and being the third wheel definitely didn't help her case.

There was another thing that deepened Kara's frown but she didn't want to dwell on it. There was an ache at her lower back that kept getting stronger and more uncomfortable. She'd gotten used to those random pains, but normally, after she sat down and the weight was lifted off her feet, she felt better. This time though it hadn't happened, the ache was still there. She'd even tried lying down earlier, assuming that she had overestimated herself for once and had tired herself out, even though she hadn't actually done much all day. Nonetheless, to her utter dismay, as soon as she'd laid down Kara'd felt sharp pangs piercing her, even stronger than she was currently experiencing. It had surprised her but it had also scared her.

Being pregnant, she had to adjust quite a bit, had to get used to feeling more human. She was still invulnerable, still had her powers, but discomfort and pain had become a thing of her life all of a sudden. Sickness too, or rather the feeling of it. As the weeks had passed, as her bump had grown bigger, Kara had started experiencing many new things, human things, like lightheadedness and soreness and nausea. And as far as her inner world was concerned, there'd been a lot of changes, like the feeling of a tiny someone moving inside her and kicking at her when they started running out of space.

Lately, the football-player-worth kicks had been rare throughout the day, but more often than not, when the baby was awake, Kara would lift her shirt and see outlines of hands and toes and moving bumps of little knees and elbows. It had become Mon-El's favorite thing too. He'd have her sit down and uncover her stomach just so that he could watch their baby's movements, usually reacting to his voice. He'd press a finger on a spot and not even two seconds later there'd be a tiny foot forming on her skin from underneath, as if their little angel was playing tag with him. And to Mon-El's complete awe, the movements became more frequent whenever he spoke, so he'd started talking to the baby often, reveling in the aforementioned fact.

Rubbing a palm across her protruding belly, Kara smiled at the thought and sighed. She wanted Mon-El, wanted to pester him with her ridiculous food cravings and watch as he rolled his eyes in response but got up and brought her whatever she asked for anyway. She wanted to drag him to bed and spend twenty minutes just struggling to find a comfortable position, pushing him away and pulling him close every other minute because she couldn't decide if she preferred to sleep on her side and wrapped around him or sprawled out on her back and not touched at all. And she wanted him to kiss her cheek and tell her that everything would be okay, because she was getting really scared as she felt the growing pain traveling from her back to her front, like a grip, pressing on her from both sides.

She sucked in a deep breath and held it, her knees weakening as she squeezed her eyes shut. Fortunately, her figure was facing the window, turned away and hidden from Alex's eyesight. The last thing Kara wanted at the moment was to cause a false alarm, even if she didn't really think it was false this time. But then, just as she'd feared, she felt warm liquid soaking her pants and traveling down her thighs, and Kara was afraid to look, afraid to accept the sudden realization—she was going to give birth and Mon-El wasn't even there.

"Alex," the blonde gasped, loud enough to be heard above the couple's bickering and chuckling. With slightly trembling knees, Kara pivoted, slowly and hesitantly. She hadn't dared look yet but she knew there was a wet mess on the floor by then, she'd felt it. And she was embarrassed for some reason, her cheeks flashing red as she looked at her sister.

Alex had immediately lifted her head to look at Kara, as soon as she'd heard the Kryptonian's stressed call, and she didn't miss the stain on the fabric covering her sister's legs. Right away, she knew what it meant, and she gulped as she squeezed the hand that had been previously resting on Maggie's waist. She hardened her features, blocking her growing panic from showing on her face, and quickly approached Kara.

"It's okay," she said, calm and steady, holding the blonde's gaze. Alex wrapped an arm around Kara and guided her to the couch and she nodded at her wife to let her know it was finally happening, the baby was coming.

"Mon-El," Kara said with a tremulous tone, a hand gripping the arm of the couch as she lowered herself to sit down, the pain increasing the more she moved. "I need Mon-El."

"I know," Alex nodded. "Maggie is going to call him and he'll be here before we even get to the DEO, you're gonna be fine."

"No," Kara protested, her face twitching into a pained expression. "He has to be here, he has to-" she stopped momentarily to take a deep breath, "I can't do this without him, I didn't prepare to do this without him."

"It's okay," Alex soothed again, seeing Maggie from the corner of her eye, phone in one hand and Kara's bag in the other. They had it all under control, but even she could admit they hadn't prepared for Mon-El to be absent for this, and she needed him to keep Kara calm. "Maggie's already calling him, now tell me how are you feeling?" she asked.

"It hurts," Kara replied, her eyes frantic, moving around constantly as if they couldn't focus. "Not all the time, just, just," she faltered before clenching her jaw tightly. "Now," she granted, the agony loud in her voice, and Alex was already counting, already calculating the time before the next contraction hit.

They waited, brief words being exchanged as everything was put in order, and Alex tried her best to sooth Kara while at the same time her mind swirled with a thousand different things, her doctor self already upfront and going. Mon-El and J'onn were called, necessities were grabbed, reassurances were said, but Kara didn't need all the fuss. As soon as Maggie had said that Mon-El had already been on his way when she'd called and he'd arrive in National City shortly, the blonde took matters in her own hands. She nodded and breathed in a pattern, that one she'd learned for this exact event, and while the contractions were far apart and the pain measured, she didn't need anything or anyone. She changed out of her soaked clothes, looked over her bag to check she had everything she'd need, and while feeling awfully human at the time, ordinary and normal like any other woman about to bring a child into the world, she couldn't help but dwell on it. That normalcy, she hadn't really felt it before, though she'd been chasing it for years. And she wasn't playing any roles for this, wasn't wearing any masks to fit into different people. She was just Kara, free of family names and titles and lost origins, just a woman who would soon become a mother and that in and of itself was extraordinary. Oddly enough, that was also the one thing that made her feel as ordinary as everyone else.

"Let's go," Kara urged after another contraction had come and gone, the pain bearable again. Inside she was panicking and shaking with excitement and nerves and cursing her luck. Because of course her waters had to break while Mon-El was away, of course their baby had decided to come into the world on the one week that Mon-El had left her side. That was just her life, and she should've expected it really, she knew better than not to. But Mon-El was coming and she had her sister and Maggie and half the staff at the DEO, just waiting for her and ready to help her through it all, and she was going to be a mom by the time the next morning came. So all in all, Kara couldn't say she had it bad, not really.


	10. Welcome (Part 2)

  
Mon-El rushed to the DEO, his eyes widened and frantically searching for Kara. He was late, he knew it, and in his head he was already blaming himself. But his first thought, his first priority was to find Kara, to be there with and for her just like he'd promised. He ran along the corridors, face flashed, legs moving faster than the average human, and although the sound of his girlfriend whimpering helped him locate her, he still winced when he heard her, his chest tightening uncomfortably.

He found her bent over a bed, a hospital gown cladding her shaking figure, one hand squeezing the mattress while the other was holding onto Alex's arm. Red sun lamps were set all around her, weakening her powers but also easing her into a more normal labor process, something more human-more painful but less dangerous. He heard her ragged breaths, her muffled whimpers, the quiet kryptonian curse words. He couldn't see Kara's face but he knew her eyes were squeezed shut, her teeth pressing on her bottom lip.

He was by the blonde's side in a flash, not daring touch her without permission and with apologies barely held behind pouting lips. "Kara," he said quietly, so as not to startle her, and patiently waited until she looked at him.

"Mon-El," Kara breathed out, "You're here," she turned her face to look at him but the smile she attempted quickly shifted into a pained grimace.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Mon-El whispered and tucked a tuft of hair behind Kara's ear. Her skin was sweaty and hot and he frowned as he felt his stomach shrinking into a knot. They'd talked about this, about the process of giving birth on Earth and how it was supposed to work. Kara had tried to fill in his blank spots, to ease him into a concept he hadn't been familiar with. On Daxam, babies hadn't been born naturally for hundreds of years before its desertion and in the future he lived for seven years it'd been a lot different as well. It'd become more of a surgery than a natural process, and although he'd met a few pregnant women there, he'd never had a reason to ask how it all worked, how a human was brought into the world. So at the moment Mon-El felt like a fish out of the water, uncertain of what to expect and look out for.

"You're not late," the blonde assured him, standing straighter and breathing easier. "Alex says this is gonna drag out a bit."

At the mention of her name Alex looked up from her watch. She smiled at Mon-El when she saw his stressed face and walked closer to squeeze his arm. "We have a few hours to go," she told him, "But don't worry, everything looks fine."

Mon-El nodded, breathing a little easier himself now. He trusted Alex's words, she'd been his rock through all of this. Dealing with Kara and adapting to her new needs, her moods, her changes, learning how to take care of her and be there for her in all the different ways she'd needed him to throughout her pregnancy had been quite a challenge for him. He didn't always know what to do, didn't always know what to say, and when Kara would shut him out, for reasons he couldn't understand more often than not, he'd turn to Alex. The redhead had been patient and willing to help him out, to explain things, and of course she'd been there for Kara when he couldn't or when it wasn't exactly him the blonde needed. So he put his own panic aside, the notions of fear and unease which were flooding him, and he focused on Kara while he let Alex and the rest of the DEO's medical team handle the rest.

He helped Kara onto the bed, hovering over her and following wide-eyed every move, every expression, every sound she made. "Does it hurt?" he asked, his voice quiet.

"A little," the blonde nodded and shifted into a more comfortable position. She briefly glanced at her sister, nodding her permission that she was okay and Alex could leave them for a minute, and then turned back to Mon-El. "How was your trip?" she asked him.

"Busy," Mon-El replied and sat on the mattress by Kara's legs. He used a hand to rub at her uncovered thigh, not knowing how else to sooth her or even if he could in the first place. "I really missed you two, did you have a good time at Alex's?"

Kara shrugged. "It was okay," she said, "Though I'd rather you didn't force me out of my house like I'm a child who needs observation 24/7."

"You kind of do," Mon-El mumbled, not daring to say that any louder, but of course Kara heard and hit his arm after she shot him a glare. He didn't really feel it, her powers almost dampened by now due to the red sun lamps surrounding the room. Fortunately his own were still intact, his old legion ring shielding him from the affect of the artificial light. He chuckled at Kara's response and leaned to press a quick kiss against her forehead. "You're the one who didn't want me flying back and forth everyday and you know I'd worry too much if you hadn't stayed with your sister."

Kara narrowed her eyes at him. "But you always worry too much," she protested, a whine in her tone.

Mon-El chuckled again. "That's true," he admitted and as if to prove his words, the moment Kara let out a pained groan he jumped to his feet. He didn't say anything, not sure if he should, but since Alex hadn't returned yet he started counting seconds.

"Mon-El," Kara granted and he automatically offered his hand for her to grip.

"I'm here, I'm right here," he comforted in a hushed voice and repeated the words in kryptonian too, knowing from past experience that it helped.

It all lasted no longer than a minute, yet to Mon-El it felt like much more. His heart was racing as he watched Kara grit her teeth and hold back tears, her face reddening as she doubled over. The truth was he'd never really seen her hurting like that, of course she'd been injured a few times, affected by kryptonite mostly, but now she was bare of her powers and that concerned him more. He had no doubt that Kara could handle it, but he couldn't understand what it felt like and thinking of her being in pain for hours, as Alex had said, had his panic growing more intense. Of course, he tried not to show it, for Kara's sake and also for his own, instead opting to focus on comforting the blonde. He rubbed her back and repeated reassurances and let her squeeze his hand as hard as she needed to.

When Kara calmed down again, their brief alone time was over. Alex came back with a group of six others, half of whom Mon-El hadn't met before. They all followed the older Danvers sister's orders, each taking up a different task, but none of them dared approach Kara more than necessary and definitely not touch her. Mon-El couldn't help but raise a brow at that.

Kara saw his expression and shrugged a shoulder in response. "I kinda yelled at them earlier," she whispered, a guilty look in her eyes.

"Why?" Mon-El asked, more curious than surprised.

"They wanted to-to..." Kara faltered and blushed and when Alex walked closer to the two and laughed at her sister, the blonde scoffed in annoyance.

"They wanted to check Kara down there, see how far her cervix has dilated," Alex explained, nonchalantly and calmly, just like she'd been for the past two hours since Kara's waters had broken.

The blonde grimaced a little as her sister took her arm and pierced a needle through her now penetrable skin to connect an IV to her vein. It didn't hurt per see but it definitely added to her overall discomfort. "What?" she protested, "I panicked, nobody's ever tried to touch me there like that before. I mean, except for Mon-El but that's different," she mumbled the last part and blushed again, naturally.

"Do you need to use the bathroom?" Alex asked, changing the subject. Kara shook her head negatively. "Good, 'cause you're not getting out of bed anymore," the redhead said.

"You suck," the blonde complained. Alex rolled her eyes in response. She hooked Kara up on a monitor, or rather Kara's belly, using straps and wires that made it difficult for the blonde to move freely. Two seconds later, with the push of a button, a continuous flatter started echoing inside the room and Kara let out a loud sigh. "I've missed hearing this," she said.

"How long have you been without your powers?" Mon-El asked.

Kara grabbed his hand and started playing with his fingers absentmindedly. "About an hour, I think," she estimated. "It feels weird," she turned to look at Alex.

The redhead quirked a brow. "How so?" she questioned.

Kara lowered her gaze, unsure and getting quite anxious. "You told me I'd feel the pain growing stronger as my powers faded but you didn't say my contractions would get so close so fast too," she explained, her tone faintly wavering.

"What do you mean by so close so fast? You're at twenty minutes now, that's good, you have a few hours to go," Alex said but she was already pulling on gloves. She and Kara had agreed that another doctor would examine the blonde during pelvic checks, both knowing the latter would feel more comfortable with that, but what Kara had said had Alex worried. If something was wrong, seemingly or otherwise, they couldn't afford to wait for Dr Grey to arrive in time for the delivery, and Alex certainly couldn't trust human standards when faced with a Kryptonian about to give birth.

"Twenty minutes?" Mon-El questioned. "I counted ten from the time I arrived to the time right before you did, that's when her last contractions hit," he told Alex.

"Yeah," Kara joined in with a whimper, "I can feel another one coming and I'm pretty sure it hasn't been another ten minutes."

"Is that normal?" the father-to-be asked, all eyes on Alex now.

"No," Alex admitted but her voice remained steady, "Not for a human, but Kara isn't one so for her it might be."

Mon-El didn't have time to respond before Kara let out a cry and gripped his hand. He moved close to her, holding her head and pressing kisses in her hair repeatedly. He concentrated on comforting her but also watched as Alex motioned for the group of the other doctors to start preparing. She said she'd do the delivery herself, and although that wasn't what they had planned, when his eyes locked with Alex's they both knew there was no plan to follow anymore. He nodded at her, as if to give her permission to proceed, and massaged Kara's back as she shifted on the spot trying to relieve the piercing pain that was striking her.

"Kara," Alex spoke softly while the blonde panted and held back groans. "I think you might have gone into rapid labor, it's nothing we can't handle but I need to check on you, to make sure, is that okay?"

"What? Alex, no, you said I have hours to go," the blonde stressed.

The redhead took Mon-El's previous spot by Kara's side. "Kara, listen to me," she prompted, "Worst case scenario you're going to meet your baby within the hour," she smiled.

"That's not a worst case scenario Alex," Kara wiped her forehead, sweat making her skin glow.

"It is because you're going to feel too much pain all at once instead of easing into it, and you might feel the need to push soon but I need you to hold back until I tell you otherwise."

The blonde nodded. "Wait, what's the best case scenario then?" she asked.

Alex started gathering her sister's blonde hair in a fist, gently and carefully. "Best case scenario? Your contractions will not get closer than five minutes apart for the next couple of hours, which actually is normal for a human, and everything will proceed just like we talked about." She used a hairband to tie Kara's hair back and smiled once again. "You know I won't let anything happen to you or my niece, right?"

"Your niece? Come on Alex, you too?" Kara feigned betrayal. "I'm already losing twenty bucks to Winn if it's a girl!" she exclaimed, "Now I gotta pay you too?"

"Don't worry babe," Mon-El laughed, "J'onn bet me a hundred for a boy, I'll lend you half to pay these two after I win."

"Thanks lov-," Kara began to say but half the word got lost in a sudden cry. "Son of a-" she fisted her gown and shut her eyes, toes curling as she leaned back on the bed.

Mon-El couldn't keep up with everything that happened after that. There was blood, loud cries, muffled screams, all coming from one person,  _his_  person, and then Alex barking out orders, doctors rushing in and out, machines brought in, rapid beepings... He wasn't sure of what he saw, what he heard, what was going on. He fleetingly caught something about heavy bleeding and Kara being ready and rushing to the surgery room, and if he were a little calmer he could have easily put it all together and comprehend the situation, but he was too busy trying to calm Kara down and taming his own racing heart. And as minutes passed, as Kara kept moaning in pain for longer than she was supposed to and the doctors pushed him aside to tend to her, Alex being the only clear voice above the chaos, Mon-El just watched. Wide-eyed, sweating, face pale and lips parted, he watched as they took Kara away at last and Alex said something about calling him to be with Kara during the delivery as soon as she had things back under control. He nodded, not sure if Alex saw it, and soon he was left alone, standing in the corner of an empty room.

It wasn't supposed to be like that, wasn't supposed to go wrong. He was supposed to be with Kara from start to end, throughout it all, to kiss her and comfort her and hold her hand. He was supposed to wait the endless hours, to listen to her cursing him out amidst the pain, to wipe her tears if she cried and hold back his own as she teased him for being "a sap of a new dad", Kara's words. They were supposed to be together, meet their baby together, introduce her or him to their family and friends. Instead, Mon-El was left in an empty room, not knowing where it'd all gone wrong, not knowing what to fear or worry about but still being scared and concerned, not knowing what to do with himself.

**~**

An hour had passed, sixty minutes since Kara and Alex had left, since he was left alone and without a clue, since he was guided by a quiet Winn to the room they'd all been waiting anxiously in. Eliza, Maggie, James, J'onn, Clark, Lois, Winn, Lena and finally Mon-El. All were seated except for him, he couldn't sit, couldn't stay still. He could hear everything, every single one of Kara's cries and screams and groans, every complain that it hurt, every plead to Alex to tell her that it'd be over soon. Kara wasn't being particularly loud, Mon-El knew it, he could recognize the distressed signs of Kara struggling to muffle her sounds, but every so often something would slip past her lips and he'd hear it right away, and he'd flinch. J'onn could hear everything too, if Mon-El could judge by the pained expression plastered on his face. And he didn't dare look at Clark, already picturing the image on his own.

Mon-El paced across the open hallway, his hands in fists, his brows permanently furrowed. He was losing his mind, forced to wait like that, able to hear Kara's pain and not being able to do anything about it. He knew that every cry brought them closer to meeting their baby, every shout and agonizing moment would be forgotten once their tiny person was born. He knew all that and it slightly relieved him, soothed him, but he was still so scared, so damn scared, that something would happen. To Kara or to the baby, or worse to both. And he couldn't bear the thought, he just couldn't.

Another half hour passed like that. Everyone tried to talk to Mon-El but he wouldn't listen, couldn't believe their reassuring words. He just paced and listened, paced and listened. And then, suddenly, without a warning, without a hint to prepare him, it came, loud and clear.

A baby's cry echoed in his ears and at the moment Mon-El thought it'd been the happiest sound he'd ever heard. "Oh my gods," he sobbed out, a palm covering his mouth. He turned to lock gazes with Clark, and when Kara's cousin nodded at him, a wide grin stretching his lips, Mon-El knew he hadn't imagined it, it really was his baby.

"Mon-El," Alex called softly, suddenly appearing behind the door he'd anxiously waited to open for the past ninety minutes. She was sweaty and tired but her eyes were shining brighter than he'd ever seen them. He approached her quickly, holding his breath. "Kara's asking for you," she told him and just a second later added the words he'd been dying to hear. "Come meet your daughter."


	11. Welcome (Part 3)

  
Here's the thing; Mon-El had expected a daughter from the first moment. The second the fact that Kara was pregnant had dawned on him, he'd been certain that a mini Kara was on her way, a tiny girl with her mother's eyes and her mother's hair and her mother's lips and her mother's feet and her mother's everything. That's what he'd expected, what he'd dreamed about, what he'd envisioned. That's what he'd prepared himself for. But when he stepped into the room, when he turned his face to the side and saw a young doctor holding a squirming pink bundle, when he got close enough to actually see the tiny figure, he was starstruck. Completely speechless, wide-eyed, awed. When he saw  _her_  he forgot about the picture he'd painted inside his head, forgot about the vision of his daughter he had imagined.

He approached slowly, silently, his breath held and his heart pounding behind his ribcage. He didn't speak but he did turn to glance at Alex, the redhead offering him an encouraging nod. Mon-El mimicked the motion and turned back to look at his daughter, complaining whimpers drawing his attention although he couldn't know what it was that made the baby protest.

He took her in his arms, a little afraid, a little too careful, and leaned down to press a light kiss on her head. "Hi beautiful," he whispered, his eyes glued on her closed ones, tracing her features, her clenched hands, the outlining of her tiny body. "Hi," he said again when he noticed the baby stilled, as if she'd stopped her abrupt movements just to listen to him. "You recognize my voice? Yeah? We've had quite a few conversations us two, haven't we?" he joked and his smile grew impossibly wider, a little more and his face would break, Mon-El was sure of that.

He shushed his little girl when she whimpered again and took her hand in his, a finger stroking her skin gently. "I'm here, daddy's here," he soothed and couldn't help giving her another soft kiss, above her tiny ear. He nuzzled his nose in her blanket, finding a naked spot that was probably her shoulder, and he breathed her in.

Mon-El held his daughter but he hadn't been convinced she was real yet. He felt her warmth, heard her sounds, stared at her, but the truth was she'd lured him into a daze and he couldn't believe that he had her in his arms at last. The feeling was so intense, so overwhelming, he was breathless and stunned, unable to think of anything past that tiny creature. But despite the fact that his brain was a little slow, struggling to catch up, his heart raced upon embracing the new reality, welcoming his newborn girl with skipped beats and rushes of warmth and affection. His knees were weak, his head swirling, but  _she_  stood out above all else, and gods, he loved her, he loved her so much. He'd just met her, had only just gotten to see her for real, and although she wasn't exactly what he'd expected he didn't care. How could he when she was so perfect, so much more than he'd ever be able to imagine? She was everything, and Mon-El got lost in the thought, in the fact, in his own little world where he and his daughter existed alone and together.

Tears welled up in his eyes and a chuckle bubbled up in his throat because he could hear Kara's teasing words already. There he was, having just met his daughter for the first time, and of course he was crying, like his girlfriend had predicted. He turned his face to the side and wiped it on his shirt, and then stared back at his little girl, inevitably.

"Don't tell Kara I said this but she looks like you," Alex said softly, coming to stand beside the two. She put a hand on Mon-El's shoulder and squeezed, sharing a smile with the new father.

"How is she?" Mon-El asked, his voice concerned but not losing its warmth.

"Perfectly healthy," Alex assured, cupping a tiny foot. "All of 7 pounds and with a mean cry, I say we've got a little fighter here."

"And Kara? How is she doing? Can I see her?"

Alex nodded. "In a minute," she said. "She did great, but she lost a lot of blood and she's exhausted. Fortunately it didn't take long for the placenta to be delivered after your baby girl was out, so they're stitching her up now and she'll be put under sun lamps right away. You can see her in just a minute."

"Thank you," Mon-El breathed out. "I kind of freaked out earlier, I didn't know how to handle all this without you. From day one you've been here for everything, for Kara and for me, and honestly you being in there with Kara is the only reason I didn't lose it every time I heard her scream and cry out," he admitted, his eyes turning sad for a second. He was happy, of course, his daughter's arrival had made him the happiest he'd ever felt, but he still couldn't forget Kara's pain. And he knew it wasn't that big of a deal, humans gave birth everyday, despite their fragility, their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, but the fact that he hadn't been there to see Kara, to make sure she was okay through the immense pain, had worsened his fears significantly. But Alex's voice had been a comfort, and he'd grasped on to it, because it'd been the only thing that kept his mind from wandering down dark paths. "So thank you," he said again.

Alex sighed lightly, a hand pushing her hair away from her face. "You know I'd do anything for Kara," she replied, matter-of-fact. "For you too," she emphasized. "And of course for this little girl right here." She caressed the baby's head and looked at Mon-El with the most sincere and sparkling look. She'd never thought she'd get to be an aunt but as it'd turned out life had stolen a glimpse at her bucket list and had started checking off things of its own volition. And honestly, Alex couldn't complain, for she was just as enamored with the new addition to the family as the little one's father was.

"Can we go in now?" Mon-El asked, feeling the picture was incomplete as he stood with his daughter in his arms but without Kara. He needed to make sure both of his girls were okay in order to calm his worrying mind.

"You two can go, I'll be outside talking to the others. If you need anything, just call." And with that Alex walked away, leaving father and daughter alone for the first time.

"Should we go see mommy? What do you think?" Mon-El asked the baby in a soft tone, grinning when she gave her answer in the form of a blink, her first one. Her eyes were blurry and the blue wasn't clear, wasn't matching the shade of her mother's yet, but Mon-El was certain that it would soon enough. "I knew it," he mumbled, "I knew you'd get Kara's comets."

The pair moved then, walking through a second door and finally entering the surgery room where Kara was still in. Mon-El immediately searched for the blonde, his eyes wide and worried, and when he located her he finally inhaled with ease. All that time it felt like he'd had trouble breathing, and although he was ecstatic to have his daughter in his arms, to hold her, to talk to her, his chest had been tight and heavy. But it all faded away when he saw Kara, when their gazes locked and the blonde's lips stretched into a smile. It was one of the happiest ones Mon-El had ever seen her wear, so he smiled too, and he fell in love with her even more at that moment.

"How are you feeling?" he asked the blonde, forgoing greetings and soft words for the time being. He approached her and leaned down to kiss her forehead, careful not to squeeze the baby between them.

"I'm okay," Kara assured, closing her eyes only for a second, to savor the feeling of Mon-El's lips against her skin.

"Are you in pain?"

"A little," she nodded and then lifted a hand to pull the pink blanket slightly to the side to reveal a sleeping face. Kara looked at her daughter and up at her boyfriend, repeating the action a few times. "She got your lips," she said, "And your nose, and your ears, and wait," her brows furrowed, "What color are her eyes?"

Mon-El grinned, "They're like yours, like comets," he replied, mesmerized.

"Give me," Kara pleaded, her arms reaching for her little girl, whom she had only seen for a short minute as soon as she'd been born. Then Alex had whisked her away to clean her up and check on her, and Kara had missed her, sixty seconds hadn't been enough, they could never be enough, she needed more.

Mon-El passed the baby over, careful and gentle, and when his girl was safely cradled in her mother's embrace he took a moment to admire the two. He memorized the image, made sure it got photographed inside his head, so that he could keep it and cherish it for years to come. "I think she looks more like you," he said, "Beautiful just like her mom."

Kara looked at him then, scooting slightly to the side to make some room for him to sit beside her, and when Mon-El did, she reached for his lips with her own. "She's ours," she whispered after she'd kissed him.

"She is," Mon-El agreed. He wrapped an arm around Kara's back and used his other hand to caress the baby's cheek. "She's quiet," he added.

Kara nodded her head but didn't speak out loud. She watched him watch their little girl and her heart skipped beats at the sight. Mon-El's eyes were so bright, his face so soft with that kind of pure happiness that he probably wasn't even fully aware of. He kissed Kara's temple and leaned his head low to mumble things to their tiny, sleeping beauty. She was all he could see at the moment, Kara knew it, and she didn't mind. She loved seeing him like that, so light and free, so happy. So she turned her head away from Mon-El and to their baby as well, because she was just as swept by their tiny person, she was just as happy and in love.

"Are you happy?" Kara asked Mon-El a minute later. Their eyes locked, their foreheads touched.

" _So happy_ ," Mon-El assured her and kissed her, deep and unrestrained. "Thank you," he told Kara.

"I love you," the blonde smiled.

"I love you," Mon-El repeated right back at her. A loud cry was heard then, breaking them out of their shared trance and demanding their attention. The new father laughed. "No, no, don't cry, I'm sorry, I love you too," he told his daughter and shushed her with big words and soft voices. The baby continued to whimper nevertheless.

"So much for being quiet," Kara chuckled and held the bundle closer to her chest, her lips brushing against thin hairs before she pressed a kiss on a tiny forehead. Blue eyes blinked open, unfocused and blurry just like before, but they moved constantly, as if they were searching for something or someone. "Sh, my love, it's okay, I'm right here," Kara kept saying until the whines and the pouts faded, a yawn replacing them.

"Maybe she's hungry," Mon-El suggested, reaching a hand under the blanket to find tiny toes. His fingers caressed and soothed and it seemed like he was doing something right because the baby grew quiet and her eyelids flattered closed again.

"And sleepy apparently," Kara added.

Mon-El kissed the blonde's temple again and their cheeks touched as they continued to watch their baby sleep. "We made this," he breathed out, a little choked up, his emotions hitting him afresh.

"We did," Kara muttered in response and cuddled close to him. She held back a teasing comment about how he was such a softie and only let a giggle slip past her lips when Mon-El wiped his eyes dry.

"Shut up," Mon-El said but with no real bite to his words. He held Kara tighter, continued to stroke his daughter's little foot, and he allowed himself to get lost in the moment. His heart was full, and warm, and not so heavy anymore. And it definitely reveled at the sight of his two girls, one wrapped around another and leaning against him. They were a family at last.


	12. Welcome (Part 4)

The midday sun settled high in the clear, blue sky, chasing the epicenter with a determined kind of focus that would only waver as the hours passed and the flaming planet leaned further toward the westside. The city was loud and so was the building Kara was in, but the buzz and the noise didn't reach the room she'd been occupying for the last two days. The door was closed, the walls soundproof and the windows that covered up the entire left side of the room only let the warm sunlight slip through.

The blonde sat comfortably in her armchair, leaning her head to the side and basking in the gentle rays that fuelled her cells with some extra and much-needed energy. She enjoyed the silence that had settled and surrounded her, the only disruptions the soft hums and breathing sounds her baby girl made as she was being fed. They hadn't gotten many quiet moments after the birth, hadn't been left alone as much as the new mother would have liked. There were so many people around, enthusiastically welcoming the newborn, showering her with love and gifts, taking turns to meet the new addition to the group. And Kara couldn't have imagined it differently, couldn't have wished for friends and family more loving and warm. But she was tired, if she was being completely honest, and she needed a break—some time to spend with her little girl, to watch her, to take her in, to figure out how they worked, how they clicked as mother and daughter. Their shared journey had only just begun and Kara was already dependent on her daughter, already unable to take her eyes off of her.

Before the baby had been born, Kara hadn't been certain how motherhood would really feel like. All throughout her pregnancy she'd been excited and nervous and impatient, eager to meet her baby, to take care of her, to love her. But she'd also been sad that she had to give up Supergirl, that she had to restrain herself and be careful in a way she hadn't been used to for a long time. Kara had been afraid that once the baby was born that feeling would become more intense, more like a trap and less like a new adventure. But she'd been wrong, because at that exact moment, as she held her child and watched her fight to keep her eyes open, her little mouth suckling lazily but not ready to let go yet, the blonde couldn't think of any other place she'd rather be. She loved being a hero, loved helping people and keeping the world safe, but her own world had shifted, had taken on a different form now, and so Kara couldn't give this up. She couldn't give her daughter up. Not for anything.

The mother smiled softly and traced her fingers along tiny features, along a button nose and barely-there eyebrows and rosy cheeks. She caressed and stroked and held her daughter's hazy gaze in her own, not wanting to look elsewhere, not even interested in looking elsewhere. She offered her thumb for her newborn to wrap her little hand around and grinned as she felt the light squeeze that followed the actions. "So strong you are," she praised. "And so beautiful."

Blue eyes turned to look at her, following the sound of Kara's whispered endearments since the little one couldn't actually see yet, so the blonde kept talking, kept complimenting, holding her daughter's attention without much effort. "Are you done yet?" she asked and kissed tiny fingers. "I think you are." Kara lifted her baby up, holding her across her shoulder and still uncovered breast, and patted her back gently.

And that's how Mon-El found them, half a minute later, when he entered the room with quiet steps. He smiled at the sight and approached, first pressing a kiss atop his daughter's head and then giving one to his girlfriend as well. He had new priorities these days, tiny and demanding ones, and he didn't allow himself to forget. "What are you two doing?" he squatted down in front of the pair and found a covered little foot to tickle softly.

"We were hungry," Kara smiled and when a yawn was heard the mother shook her head fondly. "And now we're tired," she added, kissing a clothed arm that had tangled itself in her hair.

"How about I take you two home?" Mon-El suggested.

"Sounds good," Kara nodded in response. She tried not to bother her sleepy angel as she maneuvered her little body to pull her clothes back in their appropriate place, and then she held the baby more securely and stood, mimicking her boyfriend's own actions. "Can you pass me her blanket?"

"Of course," Mon-El complied. "Here," he let Kara cover their baby up as he walked around gathering the rest of their stuff. A couple of minutes later the three exited the DEO room, ready to go home for the first time as a family.

Mon-El walked ahead and Kara followed, the bundle in her arms quiet and barely moving. She noticed Alex waiting for them, a smile on her face as her eyes inevitably fell upon the cradled infant, and the blonde gave her sister a teasing look. Alex shrugged in response, coming close and murmuring soft words to her niece.

"Is everything ready back at the house?" Kara asked.

"Yep," Alex nodded, not bothering to look away from the baby. "Mom and Mon-El took care of anything you two will need."

Kara sighed in relief, her shoulders relaxing. "Can we go now?" she joked.

"You can," Alex waved her sister off disinterestedly. "But I'm keeping this little beauty right here."

"I see," Kara played along. "So I've been replaced."

Alex chuckled. "I mean, look at her, she's the most badass baby girl I've ever seen, she takes after me," she boasted.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kara replied, exchanging a look with Mon-El as they both watched Alex and the way their daughter seemed to be completely oblivious to her fawning aunt.

The baby then whimpered in her sleep and Kara shushed her softly. "Alright, alright, we're leaving," she told her.

Alex let them go with a promise to stop by the next day and Kara walked straight into Mon-El's outstretched, awaiting arm. He kissed the blonde's temple and whispered, "let's take our daughter home."


	13. A little more time with you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: "...Mon-El found his spot behind Kara’s sleeping form, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to him, and he finally shut his eyes. As much as he wanted to sleep however, his daughter had other plans it seemed. Just as he’d started to slip away, surrendering to the sweet unconsciousness tugging at his brain, his ears picked up fidgeting sounds. He tried to ignore them at first, tried to convince himself it wasn’t really his baby who’d woken up but his own mind playing tricks on him, but then came the unmistakable whining that signaled his daughter was in fact awake..."

  
Closing the door behind him quietly, Mon-El toed his shoes off and covered a yawn up with his palm. He glanced at the clock hung on the wall at his left, noticing he’d come home later than usual, and rubbed his eyes in a feeble attempt to get rid of his sleepiness. The house was quiet, as expected due to the late hour, and the lights were off. All except the one in the hallway, which led to the two bedrooms and casted the walls with a soft kind of brightness.

He crossed the living room, shedding clothes with every step and leaving a trail behind him. He knew Kara would get mad once she saw the mess the next morning and he did make a mental note to pick up after himself after his much-needed shower, but for the time being the only thing he could focus on was washing the smell of smoke off him. It’d been a busy day which had included a couple of fires he’d had to walk right through to rescue a dozen people who’d been trapped inside two different burning buildings. The jobs had been done and over with for hours but the smell still chased after him, clinging to his clothes and sticking to his skin, making even his own nose burn with the lingering reminder. Thus Mon-El rushed to the bathroom, quickly slipping in the shower and turning the hot water on. He didn’t even spare a couple of seconds to check on his sleeping girls beforehand like he always would.

Once clean and smelling like a normal person again, Mon-El simply walked to his and Kara’s shared bedroom with the intention of crawling under the covers beside his girlfriend and sleeping the remainder of the night away. His stomach growled in protest, and he knew Kara must have left some food waiting for him in the kitchen, but he was too tired to convince himself he needed to eat more than he needed to sleep. So he just found his spot behind Kara’s sleeping form, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to him, and he finally shut his eyes.

As much as Mon-El wanted to sleep however, his daughter had other plans it seemed. Just as he’d started to slip away, surrendering to the sweet unconsciousness tugging at his brain, his ears picked up fidgeting sounds. He tried to ignore them at first, tried to convince himself it wasn’t really his baby who’d woken up but his own mind playing tricks on him, but then came the unmistakable whining that signaled his daughter was in fact awake and Mon-El couldn’t dismiss it again.

He groaned in his pillow and pulled away from Kara, his eyelids refusing to open even though he was almost out of bed the next second. “You have really bad timing princess,” he murmured as he leaned over the crib on the other side of the room. The nursery had been set up and ready to be used but it was still too early for them to let the newborn sleep in her own room. For now, and for a few more months if Mon-El had it his way, the baby slept in the bedroom with him and Kara, where it was safest. Though, at the moment, he almost cursed at his luck that he hadn’t been asleep before his daughter had stirred awake.

Another whine echoed in the silent room and the father sighed, his lips lifting up in a soft smile despite himself. A pair of ocean eyes locked with his own, blinking but not straying from his face, and his daughter observed him quietly. She kicked her legs and frantically moved her arms, just like always, but Mon-El caved when her mouth twisted in a miserable frown and the tiny comets glazed over with barely held tears. “Alright, alright,” he soothed, picking the baby up, a hand supporting her head while the other slipped under her backside. “Come here,” he rested her small body on his chest and pressed a kiss atop her head as he held her close. “What is it now? Are you hungry or did you just miss me and wanted some night cuddles?” he asked in a soft voice.

He didn’t get an answer, nor was he expecting one of course, so he just shook his head fondly and walked out of the room. Deciding he wasn’t going to get his rest any time soon, he thought some playtime was due, at least until his little girl fell back asleep or grew hungry enough she’d need her mom more than she needed him.

Alura gargled and pulled her little fist to her mouth, an automatic move that Mon-El had learned was to be expected. “We don’t do that, silly,” he smiled and took his daughter’s wet hand in his own. “How about this?” he offered the pacifier Kara had clipped to her onesie and stroked the baby’s cheek fondly. “That’s better, isn’t it?” he whispered.

The two walked to the kitchen, clinging to one another as Mon-El kept mumbling random things to his daughter. It was mostly to fill up the silence but he’d also noticed Alura calmed down the more he talked, her whines quieting and her eyelids flattering closed for long seconds. Just as Mon-El had predicted, he found dinner waiting for him atop the counter, along with a note from Kara. It wasn’t much, just a clumsily drawn heart and an apology that she hasn’t stayed up waiting for him. Still, it caused his eyes to sparkle with affection.

“I’ve been pretty busy lately, haven’t I?” he realized out loud, locking eyes with his daughter who gazed at him in wonder. He hadn’t spent much time at home lately, always busy in the DEO or keeping the city safe while Supergirl was on sabbatical, and so he guiltily pressed a couple of kisses against Alura’s forehead. “When was the last time I came home before your bedtime?” he asked her, though, really, the question was mostly of the rhetorical kind. He counted the days in his head, frowning when he came up with an answer, and suddenly his appetite was gone along with his exhaustion. Currently, he was more regretful than anything else.

He didn’t sit down to eat, instead opting to carry his daughter back where they’d come from. They headed inside the little one’s bedroom and by that time Mon-El had switched from mumbling to humming. He wasn’t sure what it was that he was trying to sing, but he was pretty sure he’d heard Kara murmur the melody before. Alura gazed at him quietly so Mon-El didn’t stop, guessing she didn’t mind him even if he sounded unsure and out-of-tune.

Generally, she was a calm baby, so he didn’t expect an outrage, truth be told. But Mon-El was still figuring her out, still learning her quirks and buttons, so he was never completely at ease with her. At least not yet. He’d been getting better though, and so as he laied his little beauty on her changing table, he was mostly occupied with stealing kisses and making Alura smile than mapping out each of his movements while he quickly undressed her and proceeded to clean her up. Two weeks ago the simple task would have turned him into an anxious, insecure mess, afraid of doing something wrong and upsetting his tiny girl. Now though, the two of them had grown past that, and they’d found their own rhythm.

Mon-El overdid it a bit with the rash cream, but he laughed it off with kisses to plump thighs and miniature toes. And then he fumbled with the diaper too, but the baby apparently had a little more patience reserved only for him. She rarely remained so composed with her mom, kicking and whining and protesting as soon as Kara tried to pull her clothes back into place. Her daddy was a special case however, and Alura knew to give the poor guy a break, or so it seemed.

Mon-El caressed a rounded tummy and gently pulled the pacifier from a possessive mouth. He pocked at the baby’s cheeks and lips to check whether she was hungry, and when the little one completely ignored his nudges, he picked her up gently. Then they walked to the rocking chair a couple of feet away. Mon-El settled down and found a comfortable position to sit, noticing Alura’s eyes dropping by the minute, and he grabbed a blanket to wrap around his baby girl. It was quiet again, and although the exhausted father wanted nothing more than to curl up and slip into dreamland, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from a tiny face.

“Once upon a time,” he started, his tone smooth and low, “a long, long time ago…” the words flowed in the silent room, comforting and captivating, as the tired hero proceeded to put his little one to sleep. He couldn’t remember the myth well, his fatigue blurring his memory, yet he continued, not daunted by the fact. He gazed at his daughter, barely two months old and with more power over him than any being on any planet on any galaxy, and he told her about ancient gods and goddesses of Earth. He told her about Artemis and how she was a strong individual who favored her privacy. Told her about Athena and her wisdom and kindness. Told her about Aphrodite and her loving and hardworking nature. Told her about Hera and how she was a true leader, the queen of all the gods. He even told her about Rhea, mother of Zeus, and how ironically enough, his own mother had shared the mythical character’s name and cunning nature. But in the end, he reminded her that those Greek gods had nothing on her, and the Daxamite ones weren’t all that different either.

For a fleeting moment, he wished he could show her Daxam, show her all the good parts that he’d grown to cherish. He wished he had a book of his own gods to read to her, like all the ones the humans had. He wished he could show her the stars up close, take her to trips to different planets, share all the knowledge he’d gathered about the fascinating cultures which adorned the many scattered pieces of their universe.

“Soon,” Mon-El promised in a whisper. “You just have to wait a few years and I’ll tell you everything,” he caressed his daughter’s cheek and smiled as she nuzzled further into his chest in her sleep. Like mother, like daughter, he thought, and left a light kiss atop Alura’s head. “Sweet dreams, my star,” he mumbled the words he’d told her the very first time she’d fallen asleep in his arms and stood carefully.

Mon-El walked back to the master bedroom, tucked the baby in, and when he’d made sure she was all warm and cozy he crawled into bed at last. He reached for his other neglected girl, who’d rolled over in her sleep and grabbed his own pillow to hold close, and he dropped a kiss against Kara’s lips because he couldn’t help himself.

The blonde’s eyelids flattered halfway open and she whined as soon as she realized Mon-El was lying right beside her. She scooted closer and clang to him, fitting right into his arms without much fuss. “You should’ve told her about Icarus and his wings with wax,” she mumbled, “that one always makes me laugh.”

Mon-El chuckled breathily. “You want me to tell our newborn about a flying boy? A newborn who can actually fly, might I add?” he teased.

“Hmm,” Kara pretended to think, her eyes falling shut. “You’re right,” she agreed, “maybe not yet.”

Mon-El shook his head gently and squeezed Kara tighter against him. He sighed quietly, partly in contentment and partly because he’d only just registered how much he’d missed that, how much he’d missed her. “I’m sorry I’ve been gone so much lately,” he whispered, a thumb caressing Kara’s arm.

“I’m not mad at you,” the blonde assured him in response, turning her head and guiding Mon-El’s face to look at her. “I miss you, but I can’t be mad at you, one of us still has to be a hero.”

Mon-El nodded and brushed a lock of hair away from Kara’s forehead. Then he kissed the bare spot. “I missed you too,” he said, “both of you.”

“You staying home tomorrow?” Kara asked, wanting to lighten the atmosphere.

Mon-El nodded for a second time. “I am,” he promised, “and I’m making breakfast too.”

“Now that’s why I love you,” Kara emphasized jokingly, the hyperbole clear in her voice.

“Oh that’s why, and I wondered…” Mon-El teased back and failed to escape Kara’s playful pinch at his side. It felt more like a tickle, really, and it made his grin stretch wider. He gazed at Kara for a minute, taking in her tousled hair and her sleepy eyes and the crease across her cheek from the pillowcase, and the grin stayed in place even after his eyelids had fallen shut. He loved ending the day like that, if he was being completely honest.


	14. The look

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Apparently there's another woman Mon-El is in love with...

  
Mon-El stared. He did that a lot. He'd just sit down, place his daughter on the bed in front of him, close enough that her little kicks would often hit his thigh, and he'd stare. He'd trace her small figure with his eyes, memorizing every detail of her, from the tiny birthmark above her ankle to the patch of hair in the back of her head that looked a little darker than the rest. He'd listen to her bubble in her own baby language, mesmerized by every little sound she made, imagining what her voice would sound like when she finally uttered her first word.

He was to be pitied really, because of how powerless he was when it came to her. He hadn't realized, before she came, just how absolutely and completely she would turn his world until it focused solely on her, until it span around her. Just one look, that was all it took to have him weak and melting at the mere sight of her. And when she cried, oh gods, he could hand her the world on a plate just to cease that sorrowful sound, to make her happy again. She existed, it was that simple, that easy a way to make him fall in love. Just by being born she'd had him wrapped around her tiny finger, and he knew that. Of course he did. And he was happy about it too.

"Mon-El," Kara whined, interrupting the moment. "You're supposed to be putting her to sleep." She walked around the bed, grabbing the towel she'd just had Alura wrapped in after her bath. Mon-El had gotten home just as Kara was dressing the little angel, so she'd let him finish the task and put her to sleep, granting him some time with their little girl. As it seemed though, Mon-El was stalling, and honestly Kara wouldn't mind it if he wasn't about to throw off Alura's routine by keeping her awake longer than she was supposed to be.

"Five minutes," Mon-El said, "please."

"Just five," Kara sighed in defeat, her face serious even as her eyes softened.

Mon-El smiled, gently pulling socks over tiny toes. He tickled his daughter's feet, which were adorned by pink tiaras now, and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "My princess," he mumbled, inhaling the fruity scent of the baby's shampoo. Alura yawned and Mon-El watched her fondly, rubbing her tummy as it had grown rounder, obviously because it was full. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he said, picking her up. "You need your beauty sleep."

Kara watched them from the door, her arms crossed, her head slightly tilted to the side. Her eyes sparkled at the image, her heart skipped beats. She couldn't help it, not when her two people were like that, so soft, so perfect.

Mon-El placed the already dozing off infant in her bed, covered her up, and only left her small fists exposed as he knew she didn't like her hands being restricted. For a minute he didn't walk away, just stood there looking at her, much like he'd done before. Then Kara approached, after switching the light off, and took his hand to coax him to turn to her.

When their eyes met, she whispered, "You have the look on."

"What look?" Mon-El wondered, his forehead creasing in confusion.

Kara grinned at him. "The holy-shit-I-have-a-daughter look," she explained.

Mon-El chuckled quietly. "I have a look?" He asked and placed both hands on either side of Kara's waist, pulling her close to him.

"Hmm," Kara nodded, glancing at his lips briefly before looking back up at his eyes. "It's a happy look, I love it," she added.

"And I love you," Mon-El replied, noticing her wandering gaze and leaning to press their lips together.

When they pulled apart, breathless and smiling, Kara spoke again. "That was smooth," she said and couldn't help claiming another kiss, she just had to.

"That's me. I'm smooth," Mon-El stated proudly, his eyes widened in mock flattery.

"You dork," Kara giggled and hit him lightly on the chest. "I love you too."


	15. Baby troubles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Kara can't put baby Alura to sleep, it's totally Mon-El's fault.

  
Late into the afternoon and with a darkened sky above her head, Kara looked out of the open window at the illuminated city. It was getting warmer by the day but the breeze that slipped in chilled the room immediately. So she closed the window, and she pulled the dotted curtain, and she hid the outside view from curious little eyes. And then with a soft smile she leaned over a tiny squirming thing that refused to fall asleep and chuckled as chubby fingers stretched out to grab her face.

A babyish gargle echoed in the silence, a version of a laugh too youthful to be mastered yet, and Kara's eyes sparkled with affection. "Shhh," she held a finger to her lips and then used it to brush blonde hair out of a tiny forehead.

Everything was tiny now. And everything was new. The room and the toys and the clothes and the bed, everything. The toes she'd put socks on ten minutes beforehand? Tiny. The eyes that were staring right into her own? Tiny. The hands that reached out to grab at her hair? Tiny. Her whole world had shrunk, had grown smaller and smaller until it all fit in this miniature of a person she had created. But the love? Oh Rao. Her heart had grown ten times its size, had expanded its walls and its borders and its very capability to contain the feeling because the tiny world had surprisingly needed too much space. And she didn't know before, she couldn't imagine how this love would bloom bigger than her, bigger than everything she'd ever known, but it had. Oh, it had.

The start came with a little wiggling, which turned into a whine, which turned into a full pout, which turned into wobbly lips and finally the floodgates opened. Her daughter was good at this, at sneaking extra cuddles at the time she was supposed to be sleeping. And no matter how Kara shushed and caressed and comforted, with softly-spoken words upon dozens of giant promises, no matter how she pleaded with her little rascal for this one time to be the quiet little angel she'd been born as, the baby didn't quiet down. Not until she was scooped and safely cradled in her mother's arms at least.

Kara rocked gently back and forth, quieting the little whimpers that escaped from rosy lips. And then just like clockwork, blindly and impatiently, those rosy lips started searching for something to latch on.

"But you just ate," Kara protested quietly, a whine in her tone. So she grabbed a pacifier and offered it to her dozing off infant. It was a green one with little cartoon lions on that for some reason Kara liked, it suited well her little monkey.

With a sigh Kara swirled and headed the opposite direction, out of the baby room and into her new kitchen. She knew that if she tried to place her daughter in the crib she'd have to deal with a screaming, cranky little girl, and she had really hoped for a quiet evening.

"This is all your fault," the blonde said as she found Mon-El's amused face watching her. She accepted a bite of chicken from whatever it was that he was making for dinner and shot him a glare when he smiled at her. "Don't even try to trick me with your delicious food, I'm mad at you," she warned, lowering her voice when the sleeping baby squirmed a little in her arms.

"What did I do?" Mon-El asked innocently, taking his eyes off one woman only to gaze at another. At the sound of his voice a little someone opened her eyes, sleepy and quiet and owning his attention right away, and he caved.

"Hi beautiful," he said with the softest voice. He placed his hand on the tiny back and rubbed gently, smiling as blue eyes blinked, an exact replica of her mother's, and a toothless yawn was offered in response.

"She's been sleeping in your arms all day and now I can't get her to stay in her actual bed," Kara whined, kissing the top of her daughter's head despite the fuss.

Mon-El chuckled and tried to muffle the sound when Kara shot him a glare again. He turned the oven off and gave his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. "Come here you," he cooed at the baby, reaching for the little one who continued to stare at him with drooping eyes.

Kara handed her over with a sigh, a happy one, and she watched as her two people rocked gently in front of her. Mon-El danced a little on the spot, humming a soft melody the blonde guessed was of Daxamite origin, and the little lady nuzzled her face in her father's neck. It didn't take long after that, just another minute of swaying and the baby was asleep, quiet labored breaths echoing in both parents' ears.

"You're so good with her," Kara complimented quietly. She used a hand to caress Mon-El's cheek and then wrapped it around his waist.

"Yeah?" Mon-El grinned as Kara found her spot at his side, leaning on his chest and resting her own cheek on the currently unoccupied side of his neck.

She breathed in his smell, another happy sigh escaping her as she took their daughter's tiny fist in her gentle hold. Mon-El held her tighter and Kara didn't want the moment to end. This quiet, loving atmosphere was her happiest place. She wouldn't trade it for the world.


	16. Rough night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Baby Alura wakes up in the middle of the night, and naturally, so do her parents.

  
The air was warm, the bed comfortable, the house quiet. Kara nuzzled further in her pillow and hummed in her sleep, instinctively moving closer to the second body lying beside her until Mon-El wrapped an arm around her waist. It'd been a while since they had last slept together, in the same bed, at the same time. Usually Mon-El spent the nights roaming around the city, having taken Supergirl's role as National City's own superhero, after Kara found out she was pregnant and decided to step down for a while. Fortunately, that one had been a quiet night, and Mon-El had hung his cape and tip-toed into the bedroom a little after 2 am. Kara had pulled him under the covers with a sleepy smile and half-opened eyes, locking him in a tight hold as soon as he'd gotten rid of his dirty clothes. Two hours later, and although the two had shifted and changed positions in their sleep, Kara was still clinging to Mon-El in some way. And the truth was that so was he.

Amidst the silence and the uninterrupted slumber, the intertwined limbs and the labored breaths, troubled whimpers echoed from the open door. So deeply the two slept that they heard nothing at first, but as the minutes ticked by the whimpers grew louder and more frequent. It was approaching 5 am, the world was still buried under warm covers and safe from blasting alarm clocks, yet not everyone understood the concept of time. And to be more specific, not everyone's stomach understood the concept of time.

Louder than a blasting alarm clock, the two's previously sleeping baby angel started crying, stressed and wailing and demanding. Kara stirred first, groaning at the sound and moaning in her pillow. She waited a couple of seconds, praying to Rao her daughter would quiet down and fall back asleep, but she soon realized she'd run out of luck.

"Mon-El," the blonde whined, nudging her boyfriend with her foot as the crying continued. "Please."

"Just a second," Mon-El mumbled in response, muffling a yawn in Kara's shoulder and rubbing his eye with the heel of his palm. He pressed a light kiss on a bare spot of skin he randomly found and slipped out of bed as his girlfriend grabbed his pillow to cuddle.

He walked the three steps down the hall to his daughter's room, still half-asleep and squinting against the light he'd just turned on. Not that he needed it, he could see perfectly fine in the dark under normal circumstances. However, at the moment he was too tired and sleep-deprived to rely on his powers.

"What's wrong, beautiful?" He asked softly, leaning down the crib to kiss a tiny nose. At the sound of his voice the crying stopped and blue eyes looked at him wide and teary. He found his daughter sucking on her fingers gingerly, although the lack of milk seemed to frustrate her and she drew her brows together in confusion.

Just as she was about to start another screaming round, Mon-El scooped her up, shushing her. He found the spot between her shoulder and neck and kissed noisily until his baby girl squirmed happily. He held her up and connected their foreheads, loving the feeling of her small hand reaching for his face and the warmth of her little exhales falling on his skin. "Daddy's got you now, sweetheart," he reassured, lacing the promise with a gentle but firm hold and a kiss to the baby's temple. Automatically, the little girl found her usual spot on his shoulder and buried her face in his shirt, grabbing ahold of it with her closed fist.

He walked back to the bedroom, finding Kara fast asleep, and he smiled even though he knew he had to wake her up. She had her face turned toward him, his pillow still clutched in her arms, and he couldn't help but gently brush her hair back and away from her closed lids. He contemplated letting her sleep a bit longer, but their daughter had other plans it seemed. As quiet and comfortable as she'd been in his embrace the last minute, her empty stomach hadn't been fooled and soon she started whimpering again.

"Let's wake mama up," Mon-El spoke quietly. He held his little girl with one arm as he used the second to coax his other girl awake. "Kara, wake up, she's hungry," he urged and gently shook her. He watched as Kara's eyelids flattered, a second pair of comets revealing themselves, and Kara sighed as she took the image in front of her in. 

She sat up, a hand lifting to caress her baby's clothed back. "Thank you," she said, giving Mon-El a kiss on the cheek and watching him smile at her. "Where's my girl?" Kara cooed next, taking the baby from her father's arms. She positioned the little one on her lap, unbuttoning her pyjama top with one hand and using the other to brush Mon-El's hair away from his forehead, just like he had done for her a minute beforehand. "Go to sleep," she told him.

"Just a second," Mon-El reiterated his previous words. Although his eyes were dropping, he grabbed his pillow and lied down but didn't stop looking at the two women next to him.

Kara leaned back on the headboard and closed her eyes as their daughter ate, her deep, rhythmic breaths creating a soft melody. Mon-El cupped her small foot and left his hand there, feeling her little movements and hearing her patterned sounds as she lulled him to sleep. He didn't completely let go, blinking at random times, just to make sure his girls were still there, and his thump caressed the baby's ankle even after he'd  dozed off.

When Kara moved to take the fed and sleeping infant back to her crib, Mon-El stirred. "Let's keep her here tonight," he breathed out and didn't need to say anything else to convince the blonde. His eyes, tired and pleading and only halfway open, had Kara weak. At the moment she didn't think she could deny him anything. He could ask for the world and she'd give it to him, right away. Although she guessed, as she placed their daughter on the bed between them, that was exactly what she was doing.


	17. It's dark inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: While home alone with he and Kara's baby daughter, Mon-El has a panic attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder/Panic Attacks/Minor Character Death/Minor Violence
> 
> For those who haven't read this before, beware, it's a heavy one!

It was still early in the evening, the house was well illuminated, and apart from a little voice squealing at random times, the house was quiet. The TV was muted, totally forgotten, and the couch was preoccupied. Mon-El was sitting across it horizontally, his knees bent, a sleepy, tiny girl layed on his lap. There was an empty bottle set on the coffee table, a dirty set of clothes discarded on one armchair, and the room was a little bit of a mess, truth be told. Toys here, baby clothes there, someone had certainly taken over the place, existing in every corner of the house in one way or another. 

"Where's my sweet girl?" Mon-El asked in that babyish voice all adults automatically do when talking to infants. "Where's my beautiful girl? My gorgeous girl, my little princess? Huh? You having fun with daddy today? Oh yeah, yes you are." He kept talking, meaningless things, sweet nothings, as his daughter looked at him with wide eyes, her mouth open as she mimicked his sounds. She had her tiny fingers wrapped around her father's thumbs, her toes digging in his stomach.

"I love you so much," Mon-El told her. "Yes I do. Sooooo much," he exaggerated, his comic expressions and his soft voices complementing his theatricals. His lips moved all over the small figure, kissing her head, her hair, her neck, her tummy, her thighs, her feet. The truth was, he had missed her. Usually he got to sneak into the house for a couple of hours to see her, when he wasn't too busy working or patrolling around the city, but he wasn't always lucky enough to find her awake or in the mood to play. Sometimes, being the baby that she was, she just wanted her mom and her bed, and Mon-El was a bit of an extra, unneeded figure. But today was different, today they were spending together, since Kara had to go into the DEO for something that she really couldn't put on hold. Not that Mon-El minded, he'd been more than happy to stay in for a day, to spend some much-needed time with his daughter.

The baby yawned loudly, her face a cute, creasing little ball, and Mon-El lifted her up gently, maneuvering her crouched form to rest on his chest. He grabbed her fluffy blanket and covered her up, stroking his thumb across her small back to ease her into sleep. The little one yawned once more, nuzzling her nose in her father's shirt, seeking his familiar scent, and she fell asleep almost instantly, as if that was all she had needed.

It made Mon-El smile fondly as he pressed a light kiss atop her head, to see her so comfortable and quiet in his arms. Sometimes he was worried his daughter wouldn't grow used to his presence, especially when he was missing most of the day, but then she did things like that and all his worry faded. It was like she knew about his insecurities and made sure to show him how much she needed him too, not just her mother.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," he whispered, his voice almost inaudible so he wouldn't disturb his resting angel. "Your mom too, but you," he continued, "you're something else," he told her and wrapped both arms around her, not tightly but securely. He breathed in her baby smell, felt her soft hair tickling his nose, and he shut his eyes in contentment.

He must have been a little tired himself, because without realizing, he fell asleep too. Right there, lying awkwardly across the couch, with his baby girl sprawled on his chest.

When his eyelids flattered open next the clock read two hours later. Mon-El let out a quiet yawn, still mindful of the tiny lady napping atop him, and he slowly stood and walked to her room to put her in her proper bed. He turned to leave, and he did, but at the last second he stopped. He stood at the door, squinting against the darkness, and gazed at the small figure with a dichotomous unease. Affection flooded him, made his skin tickle and his lips quirk up, however, the sensation was soon accompanied by paralyzing fear. His eyes widened, his lips parted in a noiseless gasp. He ran a hand through his hair and tagged, needing to feel the sting, the sharp pain. He couldn't really, he was an alien after all, but if he focused enough the phantom pain almost felt real, it almost grounded him.

Remnants of some familiar nightmare lingered in his mind, but he was already forgetting, already overwhelmed by its aftermath. Mon-El placed an open palm against the wall, to steady himself, and breathed deeply to ease the tightness in his chest. Looking at his daughter, seeing her safe and warm and quiet, made him feel better. But in his fading nightmare, in his distant memories, he saw the face of every child he'd failed to keep as safe and warm and quiet. He saw pleading eyes, he heard their cries, but he wasn't quick enough, he wasn't strong enough. What if that happened to her, to his precious girl, the one that had taken his life over and held him captive with the faintest breath, the quietest flatter of her heart? She didn't even need to look at him, she had the power to tear him apart just by existing. The thought that there could come a day when she could be hurt, or unsafe, or crying out for help, was torture for him. It caused him to spiral out of sanity, out of control. So he backed out of the little one's room, he gasped and he blinked tears away, grasping at his chest as if he was trying to rip it open because he couldn't get enough air into his lungs, he couldn't breathe.

Panting, Mon-El went back to his previous spot. He collapsed as soon as the back of his knees hit the sofa and he lowered his head. He covered his face with his hands, restricting his airway even more. 

"It's not real," he mumbled to himself, but he couldn't calm his pounding heart, he couldn't erase the memories haunting him. "It's not real," he repeated and clenched his eyes shut. His toes curled, the ache spread, and his panic grew.

He sat there, lost inside his head, weakened by his trauma and overwhelmed by the need to protect his most valuable gift, the baby he never thought he would get to have yet Rao had blessed him with. He clawed at his skin, bit on his lip, choked on empty air. He drowned in his own made-up catastrophe. But he couldn't escape it, he couldn't get out. The logical part of him was telling him to calm down, that his baby was fine, that everything was fine. Yet the fear and the panic and his past intertwined in such a way that he couldn't see anything past them. He knew the nightmare was only a fragment of a life he'd long ago left behind, of a time a thousand years ahead that he wouldn't live long enough to see again. But so many impossible things had happened to him already. So many impossible things had happened period. Nobody could tell him his nightmare wouldn't come true, nothing could convince him that his daughter wouldn't become one of the helpless children he'd failed to keep out of harm's way.

Amidst his episode, Mon-El didn't hear the lock clicking. He didn't hear Kara shuffling in. He could barely hear his own inhales and exhales.

Kara did hear though; his troubled breathing, his mindless mumbling, the gentle rocking of his body. "Mon-El?" She called out quietly, approaching slowly so as not to startle him. "Baby, are you hurt?" She padded closer, falling on her knees in front of his crouched form. She wasn't sure if she should touch him, since he obviously hadn't noticed her yet, so she kept her hands at her sides. The deep frown of her lips matched the furrow of her brows, her concern almost palpable. She had no idea what was going on, what was happening to Mon-El, so her worry came full-force.

She waited, didn't speak, didn't move, didn't make noise. She just waited. But one minute passed, then two, then three, and Mon-El didn't seem to be coming back to himself, if anything it seemed like he was slipping further away. So Kara didn't wait any longer, she couldn't. Slowly, lightly, she touched Mon-El's legs, his knees, the sides of his thighs, easing him into awareness with gentle fingers. When she reached his neck, she let her hands linger, pressing a little more as she finally spoke again. "Mon-El, can you look at me?" She urged and his shaking shoulders steadied. "Yes, I'm here baby, can you look at me please?" Kara tenderly stroked at his ears, at the skin along his hairline, and she pried his hands off his stressed face. She connected their foreheads and waited for Mon-El to open his eyes. 

"Kara?" he asked, his voice barely audible, and he looked at her with tears rolling down his cheeks. Kara wiped them away with her thumbs and Mon-El simply stared, tracing the speckles and shades of blue in her eyes, letting Kara be the trap that held him instead of his ghostly past inside his head. He let himself fall onto her, into her familiar hold, breathing when she told him to, her scent a comfort clearing out his fogged senses.

"You're okay, I've got you, I'm right here," she soothed, rubbing his back, feeling the fabric of his shirt soaking through with sweat.

"You're right here," Mon-El repeated, nodding his head and breathing more easily. His thoughts were still wild, still swirling and jumbling, but he realized something he'd forgotten during his panic attack. He had Kara. Kara was strong, she was the hero he couldn't be, she was powerful and smart and effective. All the people he'd failed to save were his cross to bear, but their daughter had Kara, and nobody would hurt her as long as she had her mother. He might not be enough, for the world, for his lover, for his daughter, but Kara was and always would be. Kara would never let happen the things he wasn't enough of a hero to prevent, he knew that, and the fact alone broke him out of his trance.

Mon-El sighed, a bit breathless, still dazed, but as his heart slowed to a normal pace, as Kara's touch brought him back to reality, back to the present, he let her guide him out of his prison.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, feeling the need to explain himself before Kara blamed him for his carelessness, for letting himself get swamped by his inner troubles when he was supposed to be looking after their baby daughter. "We were napping and I, I think I had a nightmare but I didn't hurt her, I swear to you I didn't do anything, I would never- she's, she's safe, she's sleeping in her crib, I didn't- I wouldn't let this happen if she- if she wasn't okay, I wouldn't- I'm so sorry Kara," Mon-El choked out, speaking fast, needing to say everything at once so Kara would know that he would never let something like that happen while their daughter needed his undivided attention, he wouldn't have let himself break if their baby hadn't been safe and taken care of, sleeping in her bed. He spoke, not fully aware of what he was saying, not really able to make sense, feeling like he was in trouble, like he had taken it too far this time. One day, just one day, Kara trusted him to stay home, to take care of their little girl, and he had a panic attack. The more he thought about it, the more he realised what he'd done, the more certain he became that Kara had had enough, that after this she'd send him away. He knew he wasn't a good enough father, not when he carried so much baggage, not when a harmless nightmare could have him breaking down within minutes. But still, he tried to convince his girlfriend otherwise, tried to get another chance even though he felt like he didn't deserve it.

Kara shook her head at his words, her eyes soft, her face sad. She didn't look angry, nor judgemental, like Mon-El had expected. She stayed on her knees, holding his face and forcing their eyes to lock, preventing his gaze from straying away. "Oh, my love," she spoke softly. "I know you'd never hurt our girl, I know how good you are with her, I'm not worried about that."

"No?" he raised a brow, raw disbelief dripping from that one syllable he managed to croak out.

"No, Mon-El, no baby," Kara reassured, promised, comforted. She tried to do everything at once, to give him everything he needed at once, and when his shoulders relaxed, she knew she had succeeded. "I'm worried about you, you're blaming yourself again for things you can't control, things I would never hold against you. We talked about this," she stroked his cheek, feeling weak herself. She didn't know what else to do to help him, didn't know how to turn his mind around. Kara knew how Mon-El would beat himself up, how he could convince himself he wasn't worth it, just because he thought he'd made a mistake. He feared Kara wouldn't give him a chance when he was the one who denied that to himself. He was the one who couldn't forgive himself.

"You're okay, you're enough, I love you," she said, a mantra she had to repeat enough times to know those were the only words that could actually help, they were the only ones targeting his issues and hitting a nerve, they were the ones he needed. "I love you, and our baby loves you, and I trust you with her life just as I trust you with mine."

"But I- I'm not you Kara, I couldn't protect those children, how do you know I can protect you two?"

"I know because you've proven it, so many times. You've been taking care of us and protecting this city and working yourself thin so I don't have to do anything, I don't have to strain or stress myself. And this is definitely my fault, I shouldn't have left you alone today, I know what day it is."

"That's no excuse," Mon-El argued. 

"You don't need one," Kara said back. She stood and slid beside him on the couch, turning him toward her. "I'm sorry that you couldn't save that planet, and I know how it hurts, but Mon-El, we can't save everyone. Not in the present and not in the future. I'm sorry I sent you away and you had to save the world alone, I can't even imagine how it is to live through what you have."

Mon-El leaned more into Kara's touch as he squeezed his eyes shut, memories vividly playing under his closed lids. It'd been four years since that day, the one that haunted him the most. He was still living in the 31st century, still leading the Legion, when they got word of a small planet some lights years away from Earth, that had been invaded and in the process of being slaughtered. He hadn't hesitated then, immediately he gathered his team and they flew to that planet, but when they got there it had already been a little too late. The ground they'd stepped on had been soaked with blood, dead bodies scattered around, thrown as if the people they had once been had meant nothing. They did save the planet, they did save its people, but not all of them. He wasn't fast enough to save all of them. And it was hard to live with it, but he knew he could push through it. But when he saw the children, the lifeless tiny bodies gathered in a pile and left to rot, something changed inside of him, something broke and he never quite managed to fix it. It didn't matter that they'd saved tens of thousands, not when there were so many small souls lost. Those were the most important, the little ones, those pained him the most.

Kara had known about it all, Mon-El had talked to her about it once, after a panic attack much like this last one. She knew how it was hurting him, to remember, to relive it in his dreams, and it was hurting her too, because it had happened and also because it had shattered Mon-El from the inside out, he suffered for it.

"It's not your fault," Mon-El said after he opened his eyes again. He was much calmer, his breathing stable, his panic subsiding.

Kara didn't have enough time to reply when a cry was heard from the other room. Both turned their eyes to look in the nursery's direction, and they both smiled at the sound despite themselves.

"I'll get her," Kara said softly, moving to stand up. 

Immediately, Mon-El put a hand on the blonde's thigh, stopping her. "Let me," he pleaded.

Kara couldn't help but nod, not having enough resolve to deny his request even if she wanted to. She let Mon-El go get their daughter, watching his movements, and she stayed on the couch, listening to them. She heard the gurgles and the whimpers, and she heard Mon-El's comforting, sweet words. A minute later, they appeared together, faces pressed as Mon-El whispered endearments in the baby's ear. She, in return, had her wandering eyes wide, responding to her father's words with meaningless sounds of her own, as if she was talking right back to him.

Kara grinned at the two. She bit her bottom lip, wishing Mon-El could see through her own eyes, see how absolutely perfect he was to their baby, dotting and fulfilling her every need, showering her with gentle love and soft affection. She wished she could capture that particular moment and show it to him every time he doubted himself and thought he wasn't enough.

"Look who's awake!" Mon-El told Kara, feigning an overexcited tone. The baby's mouth twitched upwards, the closest she could get to a smile at her age, and the two joined Kara. Mon-El held the baby up, a hand supporting the back of her head, and she instinctively turned to look at her mother, even though Kara hadn't said a word yet.

"Hi beautiful," the blonde sang, leaning in to press a kiss on a tiny nose. Kara reached out, taking the little girl in her own arms, unable to wait any longer. One day away and she'd missed her. She wasn't used to spending time apart, for the past couple of months the two had been inseparable. So Kara held her close, finally fully relaxed now that she had her girl within eyesight.

Later, when she was the one sprawled on the couch, Mon-El's head resting on her stomach, one arm wrapped around her middle, and their baby was cradled on her chest, her tiny foot grazing her daddy's nose, Kara let out a heavy breath. She weaved her fingers through Mon-El's hair, leaning her head atop the baby's, and she whispered. "We're both so lucky to have you." She knew he couldn't hear, yet it didn't matter, she'd make sure to tell him come morning anyway.


	18. Valentine's day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Karamel plus Valentine's Day plus Baby AU.

  
"Thank you so much for doing this," Kara said, hopping on one foot as she tried to tie her shoe on the other. Her hair was pulled back, an intricate braid falling over one shoulder, and her dark red lipstick matched the color of her dress.

"I am always happy to spend time with my granddaughter, you don't have to thank me for that," Eliza smiled warmly at her youngest daughter, shaking her head fondly when the clumsy blonde tripped over the edge of the couch and mumbled what must have been a curse word in kryptonian.

"Okay so," Kara stood straight, her hands on either side of her waist as a skeptical look crossed her features. "The powder milk is in the top left cabinet, I've left you five clean bottles though I doubt you will need to use them all, clean clothes are in the pink chest, diapers and wipes in the changing table, top drawer, bed time is at eight and she usually gets hungry around eleven. If we're not back by the time she's eaten just put her in the crib with some soft music and she'll fall back asleep on her own," the stressed mother listed, checking off items in her mental catalogue, making sure there was nothing left unmentioned and not taken care of. "What else?" She wondered with a crinkle between her brows and a frown tugging at her lips.

Eliza walked to Kara and squeezed her shoulder gently. "She's going to be fine, sweetheart, I do know how to take care of a baby," the older woman reassured.

The Kryptonian shook her head. "I know but-" she stopped mid-sentence and sighed, eyeing her baby in her adoptive mother's arms. "I worry," she admitted quietly and used a finger to caress her daughter's cheek.

"That's normal and I promise nothing will happen if you leave her for a few hours."

"You're right," Kara agreed, although she still felt anxious, she couldn't help it. She checked her watch and gasped. "I'm so late," she whined just as the door opened to reveal Mon-El.

He was dressed in jeans and a button-up, a tie wrapped loosely around his neck, and his hair was messy, probably because he'd flown home instead of taking a cab. Kara turned to look at him and she paused for a second to take the image in. He was handsome.

"Hi," she greeted with a grin as their eyes met.

Mon-El returned the smile and gave her a peck on the lips. "You look gorgeous," he complimented, a little bit breathless at the sight of her.

"I know," Kara joked, yet a blush rose to her cheeks. She went to grab her coat as Mon-El greeted Eliza and took their daughter in his arms. "You ready?" she asked him.

"One minute," Mon-El replied. He had the baby in his arms and he was looking down at her with a wide grin. "How does daddy look?" he cooed and pressed a kiss on the little one's forehead. "Rather handsome, huh?" he winked.

Kara laughed and swatted him lightly on the arm. "We're late," she reminded him.

He nodded knowingly but didn't take his eyes off his tiny girl. "I got something for you," he said, his mouth stretching further as he reached in his back pocket and revealed a small, light yellow rose. He hit the baby's nose with it gently and mumbled something in his native tongue that Kara barely managed to decipher. The baby let out an "ah" sound, so quiet and inexperienced, that had them all almost in tears. "I love you too," Mon-El laughed, giving her another kiss and passing her back to her grandmother's awaiting arms.

"Let's go," Kara prompted as soon as Mon-El's attention fell on her. She reached out to fix his tie, ran a hand through his hair to brush it back in place, and took a step back to check him over. "Now you're perfect," she nodded to herself, finally ready to go.

Mon-El shook his head with a smile. "Thanks for doing this Eliza," he turned to his mother-in-law one last time before following Kara to the door.

Eliza waved them both off. "Go. Have fun. Celebrate," she urged with her usual warm gaze. She held the baby in her arms a little tighter, swaying a little as she'd noticed her granddaughter yawning.

"Bye mom," Kara said, her tone fleeting and fading quickly as the door finally closed behind the young couple.

**~**

"Your biggest love, huh?" Kara teased as the two walked along the sidewalk. Their hands were intertwined and their shoulders pushed together on one side. "And what am I then?"

Mon-El glanced at his girlfriend with a raised brow and a playful glint in his eyes. He knew she was referring to what he'd called their baby girl just minutes beforehand and he decided to play along. "I thought you didn't understand my language.," he said.

Kara shrugged a shoulder in response. "I'm a quick learner."

"So what, are you jealous of our baby daughter?" the Daxamite ventured. He untangled his fingers from Kara's only to wrap his arm around her waist.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "I think it's cute actually. But I'm definitely gonna have competition once she's old enough to claim you." They both laughed at that, briefly imagining the scenario, fully aware that their baby could definitely grow up to be a possessive one. Only two months old and already she had her parents wrapped around her tiny finger. She demanded attention in a way an infant shouldn't be able to, yet every day she amazed them, with every little thing she did.

Turning a corner, the couple stopped in front of a flower shop. "I know I got you flowers this morning but what about I buy you some more?" Mon-El suggested and was pleased to notice Kara had already had her eye on a bouquet.

"These ones over there do look pretty..." the blonde pointed with her finger, straying from her boyfriend's hold to smell the soft petals. She inhaled deeply, the aroma swirling through her nose and making her close her eyes in satisfaction. "I want these," she decided, her words more like a statement than a request.

"Anything for you," Mon-El kissed her on the lips and walked in the shop to buy some flowers for his lady.

Kara stood outside, relaxed and happy, her gaze dancing around as she let herself get lost in the atmosphere. It was Valentine's day, she had someone to celebrate with, and the smile on her face was genuine. For a second, she allowed herself to be swept by the joy, the love, the happiness. For just a second she decided to forget everything that caused her sorrow, every problem and painful memory, every struggle and reason to frown. She focused on Mon-El's heartbeat, on the thought that he was okay, and everyone else she loved was also having a good day. She thought of her baby girl, her tiny, happy, safe, loved angel, and she thought of her own life and how it had changed for the better. All the pain and misery hadn't destroyed her. She was alive.

"Hey," Mon-El's soft voice broke her out of her trance. "Are you okay?"

Kara looked at him, dazed and drunk even though she hadn't had a drop of alcohol. "I'm happy," she stated, her tone breathy and free and light.

Mon-El's eyes sparkled at the words. "Yeah?" He handed the bouquet to Kara. "I'm happy you're happy," he said, an inevitable smile on his face.

Kara looked at the flowers and then up at him. She lifted her hand and cupped his cheek, his stubble tickling her palm. She blinked for a moment, getting lost in the gray of his eyes, in the blue speckles they held, and she was in love. With every beat of her heart, every exhale of her lungs, every fiber of her being, she loved him. And she knew that it was cheesy, that it was cliche, but the feeling had bloomed within her, had stretched and expanded as far as her ribcage allowed, and now it was spilling out, leaking from her skin, demanding to be voiced, to be set free. She pressed her lips against Mon-El's for a lingering kiss and she guided his face with her hand. There was a hunger, a wild need, an intense craving, burning in her. It wasn't just sexual, nor just emotional, it was something that swallowed her whole. But it wasn't dangerous, and Kara gave herself over, she surrendered to the pathos. And she was happy to.

When they broke apart, breathing heavily, Kara swallowed and chased the sweetness of his lips. And Mon-El was starstruck, surprised by her intensity, her feverish need that he had felt overflowing as they kissed.

"That was something," he mumbled, blinking but still unable to break out of the daze Kara had lured him in.

The city was loud, it was bright, it was cold. The crowds swirled past them in a blur and the noises flowed by unnoticed. The wind was nothing but a soft caress on their skin. Nothing existed beyond the way their bodies crashed into each other and their eyes locked together. Right there on the sidewalk, outside a random flower shop that had been ridiculously decorated in celebration of Valentine's Day, the two stood wrapped in a bubble, existing in their own world.

"You're not my biggest love Kara Zor-El, because you're not part of a list. You're not comparable. You are my world and I will never understand what I've done to deserve your love but I'm so thankful to have it. I love you," Mon-El confessed quietly. The feeling was bubbling up in his throat and the way Kara was looking at him had him convinced he was done for. If she wanted she could bring him to his knees and he would let her. Because she made him weak and strong at the same time, although he couldn't figure out how that could be.

Kara smiled. "I love you too," she promised, just as quietly.

The thing is, they didn't need to shout their love out to the world, they only needed to whisper it to each other.


	19. Downhill (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Superheroes don't get days off...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I got a new chapter to share with you!  
> But before I do that let me say something. I only just read all the comments left on the previous reposted chapters, and I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner so I could reply to each of you like usually, but y'all are a bunch of sweethearts and I'm smiling so widely at all of your kind words! Thank you for taking the time to leave such lovely comments for me, it really means a lot, especially when I know most of you have already read this series up until this point. You're all amazing and I'm so excited to share more of this story with you!

 

Fatherhood wasn't an easy job, Mon-El could admit it. Some days were harder than others, messier than others, louder than others. Sleep-deprivation was the norm and each day brought around new experiences and lessons and challenges. But the truth was that Mon-El welcomed each of those, because no matter how harsh life could get, he had found a purpose, he'd found life's true meaning inside a pair of bright blue eyes. Those eyes held the answer to every question he'd ever asked about his own existence, and he'd discovered that one thing he'd always been seeking—unconditional love.

Inside his daughter's eyes Mon-El had found everything he'd needed, so he didn't mind the fuss and the trouble, he actually kind of cherished it. Thus, when he woke up at 5 AM to the sounds of sorrowful sobbing and crying he did exactly what his instincts told him to do. He jumped out of bed and ran straight to his baby's bedroom, his heart squeezing uncomfortably the louder the wailing echoed inside the darkened home.

The worried father stumbled into the nursery only to find Kara already there. Amidst his rush he hadn't even realized his girlfriend's side of the bed had been empty. The blonde had a wiggling infant cradled against her chest, shushing and soothing sounds slipping past her lips in regular patterns, yet the baby wouldn't quiet down. Mon-El could see Kara's slumped posture, her defeated stance and the way her head bowed in resignation. He could hear the helplessness in her hushed tone, while she repeated things over and over again, fully aware that the words wouldn't do their trick. She sounded tired, so he approached the pair and rested a hand at the small of Kara's back.

"Hey," he murmured from behind her, "what's wrong?"

Kara let out a sigh as she leaned against Mon-El's steady form, prompting him to support some of her weight. "I don't know," she replied dolefully. "She's fed and changed and warm, I can't figure out what's bothering her. She's been whimpering and crying for the past hour."

Mon-El grimaced at the answer, his brows furrowing in concern. He stroked his daughter's head with his thumb but she kept on crying, tears spilling from the corners of her squeezed eyes. Kara resumed her rocking motions and Mon-El mimicked her rhythm as he held onto both of his girls. "Maybe she needs to burp?" he suggested, quietly and with a skeptical look plastered upon his face.

Kara shook her head negatively. "Already tried that," she said and shushed their whimpering daughter once more.

"Okay," Mon-El nodded and pressed a kiss upon Alura's knuckles when the little one stretched a clenched fist out. She was a curious baby, that much was true, so when she heard her daddy near she couldn't help but stop her protesting to look at him. The two locked eyes and Mon-El pecked the baby's forehead, the move so habitual, so instinctive and absentminded at that point. He had all of her attention but the whining didn't stop completely, making the father's frown deeper and the mother's sigh louder.

"Let me take her," Mon-El spoke again after a minute of silence. Alura had started to calm down after accepting a pacifier and the way she kept fussily burrowing her face in the crook of Kara's neck was a guaranteed telltale she was ready to sleep.

The blonde hesitated for a long moment, turning to look at her boyfriend fully, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth. She glanced between the two repeatedly, having a brief internal struggle, before she finally nodded and passed the baby over to her dad.

"Go get some rest," Mon-El prompted gently, accompanying the words with a soft kiss to Kara's lips. "I'll bring her to bed as soon as she's fallen asleep," he promised, knowing that the blonde wouldn't relax until she had their daughter right beside her and sleeping soundly.

**~**

By the time the sun had come up, father and daughter had stumbled their way through an additional two-hour journey into dreamland. Mon-El had swaddled the little girl in her softest blanket, always careful to leave her tiny hands out to avoid upsetting her further, and he'd positioned her on his chest in the right angle so Alura's ear rested above his beating heart. He'd read somewhere - probably in one of the dozens of baby books he'd insisted on looking through before his daughter's arrival - that the sound of a heartbeat could sooth babies, because it reminded them of the time in their mother's womb, when her heartbeat used to be their constant. Mon-El knew it wasn't the same, but he'd figured his own heart could do the trick too, if that was what Alura needed to feel secure. Plus, Kara's rhythmical breathing and her familiar smell were only inches away, in case their baby sought some extra comfort.

The two napped, both holding onto one another, as Kara awoke, went through her morning routine, and got dressed for work. Honestly, she wasn't sure about leaving, not quite ready to go to work knowing her daughter's morning might be just as fussy and uncomfortable as her night had been. But then again, she trusted Mon-El to handle their baby, whether cranky or bright-eyed, whichever face the little one opted to wear when she decided to join the conscious world. So after some serious pondering, which dragged out long enough for her to be late, she kissed a pair of foreheads and ran out the door before she could regret it. (And if she spent the entire flight to CatCo with her ears strained and waiting for the quietest of whimpers, ready to fly back home to her baby girl at the first sound of trouble, then who could blame her? She was a mom, she worried, sue her.)

Mon-El stirred some time later when troubled whimpers disrupted the heavy silence. He inhaled sharply and rubbed a palm up and down his daughter's back, lifting the covers higher on her tiny form, and pressing a kiss in soft hair. Then he moved his head to check on his girl, finding two curious little eyes open wide and glancing around. He smiled at the sight, he couldn't help it, but his mouth curved downwards as soon as Alura's bottom lip jutted out in her typical about-to-cry fashion.

"Uh oh," Mon-El sat up carefully. He lifted the baby until they were face to face and pecked her tiny nose. “You’re not gonna throw up on me, are you?” he almost winced, narrowing his eyes while Alura tried to eat her own fist. “Come on, sweetheart, we talked about this,” he continued, his tone playfully serious, “I know mommy and I joke about eating you up all the time, but that doesn’t mean you can go ahead and try it yourself,” he took her little hand and grimaced at the smell. “Yep, you’re definitely gonna throw up on me,” he nodded to himself.

Mon-El had only had a second to pull back before his words came true. His little girl made a mess over them both, but he just shrugged and smiled at her. It was a common occurrence, truth be told. “Do you feel better now, baby?” he asked sweetly, laying her on the bed as he proceeded to unwrap the blanket from around her miniature form. Her clothes came next, discarded to the side as Mon-El picked his daughter back up and headed toward the bathroom. “Let’s clean you up,” he pressed a kiss to her temple and laughed when Alura tried to chew his shoulder.

**~**

Of course, Mon-El would have liked nothing more than to spend an uneventful morning with his little girl, play with her and take her to the park and spend as much time as possible loving her, for all the days he'd missed with her on the grounds of being a superhero. But before noon had rolled around, the unlucky father had already received a text saying his presence was needed at the DEO, and so his hopes for an uneventful morning faded all at once. He dressed his baby before hurrying into an outfit of his own, and he was out the door before Kara had even answered his call.

CatCo wasn't the best place for a four-month old with developing super powers and a currently cranky mood. Both parents knew that, but National City wasn't going to save itself unfortunately. Thus, Mon-El found himself rushing through the busy downtown streets, with a dozing off baby strapped against his chest, and a few colorful words right at the tip of his tongue. He didn't voice any of those out loud, because there was a pair of tiny ears always listening nowadays, but that didn't mean he was happy with his current predicament. One day, just one day he'd wanted to stay home and pretend he was a normal dad taking care of his daughter while his girlfriend had to work. It'd been such a simple request, he hadn't dared ask for more, but even that was too much it seemed. Superheroes didn't get days off.

With a quiet sigh, Mon-El entered the CatCo lobby and walked straight to the elevator. Normally he would have to wait for Kara or James to give him clearance, so the security guards could allow him to go up, but this time he didn't have to. The guard on shift, Ben or Bob or something, just offered him a nod and Mon-El was free to pass. He knew that must have been Kara's doing but he didn't have enough time to dwell on it. His phone kept buzzing with calls he left unanswered and messages he opted to ignore—they were all from the DEO, most likely.

Alura let out a protesting cry, making her annoyance be known, so Mon-El quickly turned his phone on silent and offered her a hushed apology. She was a baby, of course she didn't understand him, Mon-El knew that, but he was already guilty enough for leaving her, he didn't want to add to her inconvenience. A part of him wished she'd been older, so that he could explain, tell her that it wasn't his fault he wasn't around as much as he ought to. But on the other hand he was glad she was still too young to need him much, otherwise he was sure she'd be giving him too many silent treatments.

The lift to the top floor was taking longer than Mon-El would have liked and a little someone started protesting again. For some reason neither he nor Kara could figure out, Alura hated elevators since the day she'd been born. She'd cried every time she'd been in one and this time was no different. A few floors up and she'd started wiggling, a couple more and her face crunched up in disdain, not even halfway through and the crying began. Mon-El tried to comfort her, to sooth her, with gentle touches and soft words, yet his attempts were unsuccessful and soon her discomfort was loud and echoing within metal walls.

Straps were unclasped and little arms were raised, reassurances were offered too, and then Mon-El lifted the upset girl up and turned her so she was facing the same way he was. Her curiosity quickly won over the unease and finally the crying stopped. Mon-El chuckled, pressing a kiss atop Alura's head, as she started babbling out nonsensical sounds and hums.

When the elevator doors opened with a ding, the first person the pair locked eyes with was Kara. "My loves," the blonde feigned a gasp, reaching her arms out to take Alura from her father's grasp. "Hi," she pressed a kiss to Mon-El's cheek, "I heard crying, is she okay?"

Mon-El nodded and pecked the blonde's lips. "We're fine," he said, passing the baby over, "aren't we, princess?" he winked at their little one.

"Wasn't it supposed to be your day off?" Kara asked.

Mon-El grimaced. "It was, but you know how it goes. I'm sorry, babe, I know you're swamped these days but I can't not go, Alex said it's an emergency," he explained, his eyes apologetic and guilty.

"No, Mon-El, it's okay," Kara reassured him, "don't worry about me, I can take the rest of the day off if you're not back before my lunch break is over."

"But today was my turn to stay home, I promised you."

"Hey," Kara said softly, reaching for his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, "heroes don't get days off, we both know that," she smiled sadly, "now go save the day, someone has to."

"Okay," Mon-El nodded, a small grin lifting the corners of his lips skywards. "I'll call you if I run late," he kissed his daughter goodbye and turned to leave at last. However, he hadn't taken two steps before he stalled and faced Kara once again. "Wait," he furrowed his brows while Kara raised her own. "Where am I going with these?" Mon-El wondered, taking the bag with Alura's stuff off his shoulder and glancing at the baby sling strapped to his upper half.

Kara couldn't help but laugh at him, and she shook her head in amusement. "I think daddy has taken his role a little too seriously, sweetheart," she told Alura, her tone teasing, and grabbed the baby's essentials with her free hand.

"Stop mocking me," Mon-El frowned, causing the blonde to roll her eyes.

"Stop giving me reasons to," she replied.

The Daxamite narrowed his own eyes and gave his girlfriend an antagonizing look before he smiled and his expression softened. "Okay, okay, I really gotta go now," he stressed.

"Be careful!" Kara reminded him just before he'd stepped back into the elevator, leaving mom and daughter behind.

**~**

 


	20. Downhill (Part 2)

Kara knew all about roles and play-pretend's, she knew about wearing different faces and masks and façades. She’d been doing it her whole life on Earth, as she tried to navigate through her second world without being discovered, and she’d had to learn how to be different people on separate occasions. Being human while still staying true to her alien origins and balancing those two so she could wear a superhero suit and help people wasn't easy at all. But she managed. She struggled and hurt and battled with her own self, but in the end, she managed. Nevertheless, adding a new face to the list and becoming a mother was unlike anything Kara had known before, truth be told. Because being a mother wasn’t about roles and masks and façades, it was about giving her all to a tiny person who needed her to be herself—the truest version of her she could possibly be.

So that early afternoon, as she paced her office from one side to another, trying to sooth her little one enough to put her to sleep, Kara was quickly discovering how hard it was to be just one person, one face, without any tricks up her sleeve. It meant she couldn’t put on a cape and chase away whatever had Alura on edge. And she couldn’t put on a pair of glasses and deceive her upset daughter like she had the rest of the world. The only thing she could do was be a mom. Because Alura didn’t see capes and glasses, she didn’t know the difference between humans and aliens and superheroes. She only knew her mom’s smell, and her mom’s voice, and her mom’s soothing touch. And Kara, even though she was used to having a variety of options as to who she could be, had no other choice than to obey her baby’s demands. So she rocked the little fidgeting figure in her arms, humming comforting tunes, and she let her fingers wander and caress and hold until cries turned into whimpers and whimpers turned into labored breaths.

She continued to whisper sweet endearments and comforting promises even after her baby had fallen asleep, her voice like a magic trick, accompanying the infant straight into her dreamland. Alura didn't even stir once her eyelids had fallen shut, as she was securely held against her mother's chest and rested her little head on the blonde's shoulder. And when Kara took a loose fist in her hand and kissed it lightly, listening to her daughter's patterned inhales and exhales at the same time, Alura was already too deep into sleep to feel it.

"Sweet dreams, pretty girl," Kara mumbled and caressed a clothed back, her lips curving up into a soft smile.

She could hear chuckles and conversations all around her, from outside the four walls of her small office, but Kara paid them no mind. Her colleagues were getting back from their lunch breaks, the building once again filling up, yet the blonde was content right where she was. With her sleeping angel using her as a pillow, in a quiet office that was bathed in warm sunlight, and a couple flat screens on the wall showing Valor's latest escapades, the reporter couldn't think of a better way to spend her break.

A gentle knock echoed from the other side of the door and Kara narrowed her eyes as she checked who was standing behind it. She didn't need to grant entrance before the door was pushed open and a familiar figure slipped in. And then there she was, clad in a fancy-looking dress, with perfect curls bouncing across her shoulders and a pair of gentle eyes, the one and only Cat Grant.

"Mrs Grant," Kara greeted with a widening smile. She kept her voice low, so as not to disturb the little girl in her arms, but her excitement was as genuine and palpable as it'd always been.

"Mr Olsen told me I'd find you here, but he failed to mention you had company," Cat approached and gave her former assistant a quick side hug. It was kind of awkward with a baby limiting the pair's free space but neither minded.

"It's so good to see you," Kara said, "I didn't know you'd be visiting us today."

"It's been a while," Cat replied, "and I had some time to spare. I trust that you haven't let my empire crumble in my absence."

Kara laughed. "I promised you I wouldn't," she said back.

The older blonde nodded and her gaze fell onto the napping baby, inevitably and with a kind of warmth unusual for the woman Kara had spent her first three years at CatCo with. "Is this her?" Cat motioned at Alura, although both women knew the question was simply rhetorical.

Kara glanced at her daughter briefly and nodded in response. She turned slightly to the side, so the sleeping face that looked too much like her daddy could be seen, and watched as the queen of media melted at the sight of long lashes and pouty lips that suckled eagerly on a colorful pacifier.

"She's beautiful," Cat reached a hand out. "May I?" she asked, and if Kara didn't know better she'd think there was a faint blush rising up her mentor's cheeks.

It was weird to see, the high and mighty Cat Grant, who had confidence engulf her like a blanket and brilliance pouring out her every word, being awkward and hesitant. But most importantly, it was surprising to see her so openly affectionate and mesmerized, all because of a tiny girl who had no idea of the affect she had on people.

"Would you like to hold her?" Kara prompted, knowing Cat wanted to but wouldn't ask directly. The older blonde nodded, as if the baby had her tongue-tied for a second, and accepted the unaware angel in her arms.

Everything flipped upside down after that. The awkwardness and the hesitancy faded, only to be replaced by experience and fondness. Cat's own children might have grown up, but the natural instincts never really went away. And that showed. Kara could see it in the way Cat held Alura, in the way she shushed her when quiet whines escaped pouty lips, in the way she seemed to adapt to the baby's preferences in just a few moments.

Kara didn't have to tell her that Alura liked to have her hands free at all times, or that she slept better with her little legs bent and held securely. Cat immediately knew to mimic Kara's own stance, to prevent the baby from feeling the change of embraces. And she did it almost mindlessly, as if it came naturally to her, in a way Kara secretly envied. The blonde was still learning her baby girl, still discovering new things every single day. And that took time, which sometimes frustrated Kara, although she wouldn't admit it. There Cat Grant was however, a mother for a longer time than Kara had been on Earth, and she took on the role as if it'd required no effort whatsoever. She'd slipped into it like she hadn't had to in the first place, as if it wasn't a role she was playing at all. She was a mom and that existed in her just like the kryptonian genes existed in Kara—it was in her nature.

"You look troubled," Cat noted, her brows drawn together in concern.

Kara looked up at her surprised and bit her lip before speaking. "How do you do that?" she asked, her shoulders slumping. "How is it so easy for you to know what she needs when you've only just met her?" she gestured toward Alura.

Cat gave the blonde a puzzled look. "I didn't really do anything," she said, "if she was awake I'm sure she would have cried the moment I took her in my arms."

"She wouldn't have," Kara opposed, "she's calm with you, she's not like that with everyone. Even in her sleep she knows if it's someone unfamiliar holding her and she wakes up crying when she needs to."

Cat hummed in response. "Kara," she called out softly, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing really," the blonde shook her head, a forced smile lifting her lips up before it inevitably slid right off. "We have been having a few rough nights lately," she shared. The words weighed heavily on her chest, but it wasn't hard to open up to Cat, oddly enough. In fact, talking to her felt as easy as it'd been when the two were still the head of CatCo and her assistant. "She just-" Kara fixed her glasses atop her nose, "sometimes I can't keep up with her. I can't always calm her down, or immediately know what she needs, and every time she falls asleep crying I feel like I'm failing her," the new mother sighed. "I feel like I should be better at knowing her, isn't that supposed to be a natural maternal instinct?"

Cat chuckled softly in response and shook her head in a gentle manner. Then she lifted a hand and squeezed the young reporter's shoulder. "You're not supposed to know everything from the first moment you take your child in your arms. It doesn't work like that," she assured Kara. "Motherhood is a journey, it takes time and effort. But you need to trust yourself, that's what your daughter needs from you. You see, babies share our feelings, they have this unique ability to see right through us and mimic our emotions. If you're calm and confident in your instincts as a mother, your daughter will know it," she spoke effortlessly, weaving experience and advice into one and offered it all to her struggling protégée.

Once again, just like many times before, Cat looked at Kara and saw a glimpse of her younger self. She heard the blonde and recognized her own fears and insecurities from twenty years into the past. And thus she tried to think of the words she wished she had someone say to her back then, when similarly to Kara, she'd thought motherhood was another role she had to learn how to play. She'd thought that it came with notes and standards and cheating tricks, a poem she'd get to read every day until she could recite it with a single breath. How naive had she been…to think that being a mother was a skill to be mastered. How naive had she been…to treat her most valuable gift as another one of her daily jobs. But she knew better now, life had taught her enough, and what that last one had failed to instill in her, Carter had, as he'd grown to be the most perfect piece of her.

"She is a lovely little girl," Cat continued, her gaze softening when she glanced back at the baby in her arms. "And I know she has a mother who will never stop trying her best and doing her best, even when she feels defeated by infant colics and a few restless nights."

Kara smiled at the words, her face easing from its tight and stressed expression. "Thank you," she said quietly to the older woman, voice breathy and relieved. "I'm really glad you decided to stop by today. Sometimes it still feels weird to walk into your office and not see you there."

"Some habits are hard to break," Cat agreed with slight nod. "I have missed this place, I've missed working here." She cast a look around. "There's a window," she noted with a raised brow.

Kara chuckled in response. "You did say there would be a window in my future," she recalled.

"I think you're going to like the one in Snapper's office even more, it has a tremendous view of the ocean and the east side of the city," the blonde winked.

Kara resisted the urge to gasp, although she couldn't stop her eyes from widening too. "You're promoting me?"

Now it was Cat's turn to chuckle, the sound restrained but still genuine. "It's been a long time coming," she said and let the younger blonde process the news. She then turned her gaze to a pair of blue eyes blinking awake. "Oh," she breathed out, "what a beautiful girl you are," she cooed shamelessly. Cat took ahold of a tiny hand and watched fondly as the baby yawned and observed her curiously. She smiled and whispered soft words, melting at the mere sight of the infant, but she didn't miss Kara's wide grin as the young mother observed the two.


	21. Interrupted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Kara and Mon-El's "fun" is interrupted.

She liked him when he was tired; when his hair was a mess and his eyelids were drooping and his smile was soft, so beautifully soft. She liked him when he crawled into bed after a long day and sought her out, nuzzling his face in her neck, or her side, or her chest. And she liked him when he opted to greet her with halfhearted kisses and lazy pecks scattered across her skin, because he couldn't gather enough energy to use his words. She liked him in that quiet state, when he was warm and pliant, needy in a way he'd forgotten how to be and honest in a way that always surprised her.

"You're so beautiful," Mon-El mumbled, cheek pressed against a pillow and eyes hazy with sleepiness. He sighed dreamily and stared, as if he couldn't look away from her, and Kara reveled in the way he complimented her so honestly and breathlessly she felt her own heart skip beats.

The blonde couldn't help but glance away from her book, only to furrow her brows at her boyfriend. "Thank you," she said with a breathy chuckle and her creased expression softened into flushed cheeks and gleaming eyes.

"So damn beautiful," Mon-El muttered again, voice muffled and croaky and hinting at a slur Kara knew meant exhaustion.

She reached a hand out and brushed his hair away from his forehead, weaving her fingers through dark locks with an experienced touch that could have the sleepy hero completely lax within mere seconds. "You're not so bad yourself," the heroine offered, her tone quiet and gentle.

Gray eyes closed and rosy lips parted to let out that little hum she always knew to expect from him. He moved a leg and slipped it under her own, and although it was weird and sometimes uncomfortable, it was his thing and Kara wouldn't dream of changing it. In fact, Mon-El had a lot of things, and the blonde had memorized them all, because she loved them all.

She put her book aside, not even bothering to place a bookmark on the page she'd been reading. Then she lowered her body and lied beside Mon-El, a hand still weaving through his hair. "Babe," she called out quietly, mouth curving in a smirk. "You sleepin'?"

"Yes," Mon-El replied, eyelids still shut, voice still croaky.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

"Really sure?"

He nodded again.

"Wake up," Kara whined and nuzzled in the crook of his neck. She nosed his shoulder, kissed his cheek, left a line of pecks up to his temple.

"It's late," Mon-El replied with a whine of his own. "I'm tired. Shh."

Kara grabbed his hand and filled the gaps between his fingers with hers. She squeezed and used a thumb to stroke his skin. "No, wake up," she said again and lifted her upper body to hover over Mon-El. She found his lips and pressed a kiss against one corner, then against the other, then on the center. She moved to his neck again and bit softly, lower and lower until she reached his collarbone and switched to kisses once more.

"Kara," Mon-El groaned. "No."

"But why?" She continued to tease.

"Not now."

"Yes, now," the blonde insisted.

Fingers wandered and tugged at clothes that shouldn't be there. Hands grasped and squeezed and discovered, just as lips gasped and kissed and left marks. Kara mapped out Mon-El's skin with her mouth, with her palms, with her fingers. She pulled up his shirt and pushed down his pants, needing, demanding, taking. One leg went over Mon-El's left side while the other stayed at his right, and as much as he was trying to pretend he wasn't affected and all he wanted was to sleep, his body betrayed him.

Wide awake now and responding to Kara's touch with his own greedy hands, he cupped the backs of her thighs and chased her mouth in blind desire. He swallowed her moans and cherished her whines, trying to lift up the shirt covering her upper half. He was too exposed and Kara not nearly enough, and Mon-El wanted more bare skin to touch, to love, to taste.

"You can't do this," he groaned, a hand traveling up to Kara's chest, slowly and teasingly, wasting time he knew they didn't have. He counted her ribs, traced a thumb along the underside of her breast, pulled her closer and closer until he had access to all of her.

"I missed you," Kara simply answered, too busy painting pictures all over Mon-El's skin, teeth leaving marks that healed within seconds. She inhaled deeply and moaned, encouraging without uttering a single word.

"I missed you too," Mon-El breathed out, "but we can't do this right now."

Once again, Kara ignored him. She tugged at his hair and favored his neck, her mouth lowering to his collarbone, then to his chest, then to his abs. "I want you," she said and lifted her head up only to crash their lips together and bite Mon-El's bottom one.

Mon-El tried to shake his head and pull back. "Alura is going to wake up soon," he managed to croak out and that was all it took to break the spell.

Kara pulled back and sat on his lap, huffing out and sending him an angry look. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand and grimaced, realizing Mon-El was actually right. "Why did we have a baby?" she groaned, "Why didn't we go straight to a five-year-old or something?"

Mon-El chuckled and reached out to smooth Kara's hair. He smiled at her pout and leaned in to kiss it off, this time softly and with no underlying urges. "I'm pretty sure we can't do that," he said.

Kara pursed her lips, the dimple underneath the right side of her mouth becoming visible. "How did you know it's feeding time?" she asked, looking for her discarded clothes.

Mon-El laughed again and his gaze lowered toward Kara's chest. "I was going for some boob-love when I realized you're soaked," he pointed at the wet stains on the blonde's bra.

Kara groaned once more. "This is the third one today," she complained, "maybe I should just stop wearing bras from now on."

"And then you're gonna soak through all your shirts. Wow, that's really smart, babe."

"Shut up," Kara glared at Mon-El. "And put on some clothes," she threw his shirt as his face, "Mr boob-love," an exaggerated eye-roll followed as she muttered about how stupid that had sounded.

A cry was heard then and both parents turned to look toward the nursery's direction. "There she is," Mon-El gestured.

Kara grimaced at the sound and climbed off the bed. "She'll be off to college soon, right?" She said to herself, more like an odd pep talk and less than an actual question. Her boyfriend raised a brow but the blonde dismissed it, opting to walk away whispering about no breastfeeding, and sex without interruptions, and full nights of sleep void of crying and baby puke.

Mon-El sat there for a few more minutes, listening to Kara comforting their baby and trying to make a deal about longer nap times. But Alura was only concerned about her protesting stomach, and so the blonde had to give in eventually. "How about you don't eat too much tonight and let mommy keep her nice and clean shirt, huh? What do you think about that?" Mon-El heard his girlfriend ask in a soft tone. He smiled to himself, the sounds of his girls already lulling him to sleep, and he was out before he could eavesdrop on any more of Kara and Alura's 'deals'.


	22. Typically perfect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis:  
> "A splash broke the two apart, followed by a squeal, and then more splashes and more squeals. From her position in her mother's lap, with her back resting against the blonde's bent knees and her little feet kicking at the water that barely reached her waist, Alura was having the time of her life. She splashed her opened palms again and again, loving the sound the water made, without a care in the world. Never mind the fact she was staining her daddy's shirt and the conversation she'd just forced to an end.
> 
> "Hey!" Kara protested playfully. "A little warning next time," she furrowed her brows but she was barely holding back a laugh. Then Alura giggled and all masks melted away in favor of smiles and soft words."

With a sullen face and hands full of takeout bags, Kara stepped into her apartment and sneaked a quick glance around. Not much had changed since earlier in the morning, when the family of three had left to go to work -or in Alura's case to her grandma's- but Mon-El's shoes had been left by the door and his jacket was draped over the back of the couch. The blonde walked further in, shedding layers of clothes and placing the bags on the coffee table, but she didn't call out for her partner in case their baby was sleeping. Instead, she moved quietly through the apartment and headed straight for the nursery in search of her two people.

She found them playing with each other, all babbling noises and melodic laughs. Mon-El was half naked, his shirt in his hands, and he used it as a cover behind which he hid to play peek-a-boo with their five-month-old. Alura, on the other hand, was fully dressed and lying on the changing table, most likely waiting for her daddy to finish his shenanigans and change her too. So Kara stood at the door, leaning against the frame, and observed the pair. She didn't want to intrude, the moment was too perfect to ruin. Nevertheless, Mon-El noticed her right away and sent her a dimpled smile that she couldn't help but return.

"Hi," she murmured and finally inched closer. Her movements were slow, hinting at her exhaustion, but she eased into Mon-El's outstretched arm and turned her focus onto their tiny angel.

"Hi," Mon-El said back, kissing her temple.

"Have you eaten? I brought food."

He shook his head in response and grabbed his shirt to pull on.

Kara whined as soon as Mon-EI had covered up. "You didn't have to do that," she let out an exaggerated huff and turned to wink at their daughter. Then she picked the little one up and kissed her cheek soundly.

"You're ridiculous," the Daxamite rolled his eyes, amusement lighting up his features. "Allie needs a change by the way," he wrinkled his nose comically and headed for the door.

Kara feigned a gasp in response. "You little-" she started but Mon-El was already halfway out the room, a smug grin on his face. "Daddy's being silly, isn't he, sweetheart?" she asked and Alura laughed as if she'd understood, causing Kara to grin widely at the sound.

Chubby fingers tangled themselves in blond locks and an abundance of pecks were pressed all over naked skin, as the mother undressed her girl and cleaned her up. Giggles filled the room and bounced off the walls, a lyrical sound the parents couldn't get enough of. And when the two had finished the task -which took longer because they had to sneak some fun and love in between- mother and daughter walked into the kitchen, faces pressed close and a miniature hand trying to grab onto the blonde's nose. Mon-El looked up at them, disregarding the plate he'd been filling to watch the two. His face softened, in that way Kara knew he wasn't aware of, and she strode over and nudged him to get his undivided attention.

"Are you okay, babe?" the hero asked, his task completely abandoned now in favor of wrapping both his arms around his girls.

"Tired," Kara mumbled and leaned her head on his upper chest. Alura found a new interest in her daddy's necklace, so Kara took that as a chance to let her eyes fall shut for just a few moments.

"What do you need?"

"Nothing," the blonde assured, "just let me stand here for a minute. I missed you, both of you."

Mon-El kissed her head in response. He took the baby from her arms and held Kara a little tighter. "How was work today?"

Her response was a groan and her eyelids fluttered open. Then she straightened her posture and began rambling about the day's troubles. "I didn't know Snapper had to deal with  _so_ much. There's so much to do, so many people to check on every day, so many articles to go over and half of them need to be rewritten multiple times before I can even consider publishing them! And then there are my own articles, I barely had time to put a couple of sentences together today, how am I supposed to write anything when there's all this- this...chaos," she finished, slumping over him again and letting out a meager sigh.

"You can do this," Mon-El encouraged, a soft smile on his face.

"I know, but let me complain otherwise I'm going to burst!"

He rubbed Kara's back and a chuckle vibrated in his throat.

"Hey," he called quietly after a second and waited until blue eyes had lifted to look at him. "I'm proud of you," he said and chased her lips for a quick kiss.

Kara smiled against his mouth, her shoulders relaxing and the weariness of the day tugging at her limbs. She pulled back and lifted a hand to caress Alura's back. "Do you mind if I take a shower before dinner?" she addressed her lover, "I'll be quick."

"I've already filled the bathtub for you," Mon-El winked and proceeded to lift Alura above his head and make plane sounds. "Go," he prompted in a gentle tone, "we're just gonna be here, playing," he twirled around and laughed as if he were a kid himself.

Kara shook her head fondly, stealing one last glance at the two before she turned to walk to the bathroom. Their joyous sounds followed her, filling up her heart and bringing a soft glow to her cheeks, and she didn't close the bathroom door, needing to hear them. She undressed quickly, leaving a mess behind her, and eagerly sank into the still hot water. She didn't know how Mon-El had known that she'd had a rough day, or how he'd managed to pick Allie up, go home, run her a bath, and still remained as cheerful and gentle and loving as if he hadn't been too busy and tired himself. But Kara appreciated it, and she made a mental note to thank him a little more thoroughly later. Be it completely innocently or with more fervor, he deserved her attention too, and the blonde looked forward to it.

Blond hair was gathered in a loose bun, soap was added to the water until it was bubbly enough, and the heroine leaned her head back against the tiles, trying to relax. The corners of her mouth lifted up at the sounds of her lover having an one-sided, silly conversation with their baby, and her daughter babbling along if only to humor her daddy. She focused on the two and let everything else fade away. Her eyes fell shut, her body completely limp as the tension melted away, and she tried not to think about anything other than that fuzzy feeling her two loves sparked within her.

Minutes passed and Kara was still only half-aware, still ignoring the world's existence and troubles. The meaningless babbling she was tuned to grew louder, closer, and the blonde peeked at the door, expecting a pair to appear. Within a second, a tiny face entered her line of vision and the mother smiled.

"Looking for me?" she joked.

Mon-El nodded and shrugged a shoulder. "I thought you could use some company," he said as he walked in, two towels hanging from his shoulder. One was Kara's, which she'd forgotten to grab, and the other was smaller and more colorful, to suit their baby girl.

"Come 'ere you," the mother stretched her arms, reaching for said baby girl. She grabbed a tiny foot, kissed wiggling toes, and proceeded to take her diaper off before Mon-El handed her over. Then Kara took Alura into the bathtub with her.

"Should I leave you two alone for a bit?" the hero asked.

Kara shook her head and made a negative sound in her throat. "Stay," she said simply and reached for his hand.

Mon-El knelt down beside them, one hand clasped into Kara's and the other brushing baby blond locks. "You sure you're okay, love?" he eyed his partner, concern painted over his stormy gaze.

"Positive," Kara replied, softly and earnestly. "You know what I was thinking?"

"What?"

"Eliza's birthday is coming."

"Hmm."

"If you don't mind, I'd like Allie's name day to be on the same day," she suggested.

A brief look of surprise flashed across Mon-El's face. "Are you serious?"

"Of course," Kara nodded, "I know we didn't have name days on Krypton, but I want your traditions to be a part of Allie's life too. We can do everything you did on Daxam; the ritual, the prayers, the dance, all of it. If you want to, that is."

Gray eyes glistened and Mon-El nodded in response. "I didn't know-" he choked out, suddenly overflowing with emotion, "I didn't know if you wanted her to know where I'm from, to have that stain on her."

"It's not a stain, Mon-El, it's her father's origins, it's already a part of her. We both know Daxam wasn't perfect, but Krypton wasn't either. I want her to know who she is, who we are, where we came from. I want her to know that you and I, we made no sense," she cupped his cheek and smiled at him, "we were never supposed to meet, let alone love each other, but we did. And despite all the bad we still tried to be good, that's what defines us."

Mon-El didn't speak for a long moment. He leaned into Kara's touch, his hand never leaving their baby's small form. He looked at her, at her oblivious face, her effortless smiles, her blue eyes that matched her mother's perfectly, and he softened in that way Kara had grown to love. Because only Alura could do that to him, only she could mesmerize him in such an encompassing way that he forgot all about the weight upon his shoulders and his struggles with his own self. Only she could make him accept himself wholeheartedly—because he couldn't not to when all he was at the moment was her father and nothing existed beyond their tiny, perfect person.

"Thank you," Mon-El mumbled when he looked at Kara again. The two shared a quick kiss, which, naturally, Alura had to interrupt.

A splash broke the two apart, followed by a squeal, and then more splashes and more squeals. From her position in her mother's lap, with her back resting against the blonde's bent knees and her little feet kicking at the water that barely reached her waist, Alura was having the time of her life. She splashed her opened palms again and again, loving the sound the water made, without a care in the world. Never mind the fact she was staining her daddy's shirt and the conversation she'd just forced to an end.

"Hey!" Kara protested playfully. "A little warning next time," she furrowed her brows but she was barely holding back a laugh. Then Alura giggled and all masks melted away in favor of smiles and soft words. She lifted her daughter up and blew raspberries against her tummy, sloppily kissing plump thighs, drinking in the happy sounds she got in response.

Mon-El watched the two happily. He stood and started gathering Alura's bath toys and soaps, guessing that was as good a time as any to give their baby girl a bath as well. And if he ended up having to wash Kara's hair while she washed their angel's, he didn't mind. Nor did he mind his soaked clothes and the mess in the bathroom. After all, Kara made sure to thank him later, in her own ways.


	23. Jealous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: Mon-El gets jealous and a fight ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! :) It's been a while. I hope you're all well and the new year has been kind to you so far. ♡

It'd been a couple of hours since his latest escapade but Mon-El hadn't changed out of his suit. He'd spent the better part of those two hours pacing back and forth on the DEO roof, mumbling to himself and replaying the fight he and Kara had had right after they'd stopped a typical bank robbery.

It'd also been a while since Supergirl's last appearance, and the pair had agreed Mon-El was still going to handle most of the emergencies popping up every day, but Kara had been eager to get out there again and he hadn't had any reasons to stop her. Therefore, when Supergirl'd showed up outside that bank shortly after Mon-El had, he hadn't been surprised — quite the opposite actually. He'd been excited to work with his hero again, to have her by his side after so many months of doing things alone. Thus, the job wasn't the problem. It hadn't been the reason why they'd fought; everything had gone well and they'd walked out of the bank smiling and satisfied. It was what'd happened after that pestered him and made his blood boil, leaving him with a reeling head and hot anger running along his veins.

He clenched his fists and pursed his mouth, brows drawn together above stormy eyes. He'd flown away to cool off, to take some time to calm himself down, but the longer he stayed on the roof the more furious he felt — or more desperate; he wasn't sure, but that was just as bad.

"Sprock!" he cursed behind gritted teeth and continued his pacing. His cape swayed behind him, every step echoing as if the world wasn't loud enough already, as if he wasn't annoyed enough.

"Have you calmed down? Can we talk now?" Kara spoke from behind him but Mon-El didn't turn around to look at her. He only stood still and clenched his fists tighter. "Mon-El," she called, her tone quieter, "look at me."

"No, I'm mad at you," he snapped.

"You're mad at me? What did I do?" the blonde shot back.

"You know what you did!" He faced her. "You were flirting with that officer!"

The blonde let a frustrated huff out and fixed the glasses atop her nose. "Don't start with this again," her shoulders tensed up as her own anger intensified, "I told you nothing happened back there."

"Nothing happened?" Mon-El's brows lifted. "He complimented you and gave you flowers and you accepted it!"

"What was I supposed to do? Throw the flowers in his face?" Kara took a step closer to him, her eyes sharp.

"Yes!" he replied as if it was a no-brainer.

"Mon-El!" she scoffed in response, her mouth forming a straight line.

"What?" he took a step closer too then. "That idiot was making eyes at you and you were encouraging him!"

Releasing a brief, humorless chuckle, Kara breathed in deeply and shook her head. Her annoyance was clear and evident in her gaze, and as her face glowed red, the frustration showed too. "I was encouraging him? How? How did I do that?" she almost yelled.

Gray eyes narrowed and Mon-El rested both his hands on either side of his waist. "Don't you think I saw how you smiled at him? And how you spoke to him?"

Kara huffed again. "I was being _nice_! That's what I do when people thank me, you can't seriously have a problem with that!" she defended.

"But you- you chatted with him!" Mon-El continued to argue, although his cheeks had gone from flushed to normal and the fire within his gaze had mellowed; he had started to calm down.

Kara saw it all, thus her stance eased and her expression softened. "I had to," she replied, quieter this time. "He's an officer and I'm Supergirl, I talk to the police every time there's an incident."

And just like that Mon-El was furious again. "That wasn't talking. He wasn't talking. He was flirting with you Kara!" he pointed out, his jaw clenching.

"Yeah? And how do you know that?" Kara yelled again but tried to keep her frustration at bay.

"Because he wasn't even looking you in the eyes, he was checking you out!"

"Even if he was, what do I have to do with it? Do you honestly think I'd be flirting with another man right in front of you? Is that what you think of me? That I'm going left and right trying to find someone to cheat on you with?"

Mon-El stopped short. "I didn't say that," he defended in a small voice. "That's not-" he shook his head and sighed.

"That's not what?" Kara demanded, still angry.

"I didn't think of it like that. I just got jealous, I'm sorry, I'm ridiculous." He bit his lip and looked up, his movements slow and hesitant. "I'm ridiculous," he said again and frowned deeply.

"That you are," Kara agreed.

"I'm really really sorry, do you forgive me?" he asked and tried to take Kara's hand in his own.

"I'll think about it," the blonde gave him a side glance but allowed him to intertwine their fingers.

"Please?"

She pretended to think for another second but then a tiny smile broke through her tensed expression and she reached out to cup his face, their gazes meeting once again. "I'm with you," she said as if it were more of a promise than a fact.

"I know but I don't like it when other people look at you," Mon-El mumbled, uncomfortable and twitchy for a different reason now.

Kara's eyes narrowed in confusion. "...look at me?" she wondered out loud but the truth was she was a little amused.

"You know what I mean," Mon-El pulled her close and hid his face in her neck, inhaling her scent and willing himself to forget about his fears and focus on Kara's presence.

"Yes, I know," she nodded, a hand coming up to brush the hair in the back of his neck. It was her soothing trick. "But I only love you," she added, holding him tighter against her.

"Say that again?" Mon-El pleaded in a small voice.

Kara couldn't help but smile in response. "I only love _you_. Just _you_. Always _you_."

"Hmm," his eyes slid shut just as his shoulders relaxed. "I like the sound of that."

"What am I gonna do with you? Huh?" The blonde asked and prompted her lover to lift his head so she could look at him. "You're going to drive me crazy one day."

"Same thing you've done to me," Mon-El responded with a grin.

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes playfully. "Are you okay now?"

Mon-El's face darkened once more, his body cowering as if he wanted to run away and hide. "You're not gonna leave me, are you?" he asked but didn't dare look at Kara.

"Nope," the blonde shook her head.

"Then yeah," he nodded, his chest puffing out with a deep inhale. "I'm okay."

"Good, 'cause I can hear Allie crying. We have to go back in, Alex is losing it."

Mon-El laughed in response. "Our girl is stubborn, isn't she?"

"Takes after you," Kara joked.

"I don't think so," her lover said back.

The blonde observed him for a moment, mischief sparkling within the ocean she held inside her gaze. She threw Mon-El a daring look, one he immediately recognized and furrowed his brows at, and she readied her stance to run away. "Last one to Alex's office will have to calm down Allie!" she announced and took off, already knowing she was going to win.


	24. Game on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis: In the middle of the big bed, atop a bright pink, ridiculously-decorated blanket, rested a tiny lady with sparkling blue eyes. And beside her was a fawning aunt, who held a teddy bear in her hand and made cartoon-ish sounds. The two had played and eaten and napped, they'd cleaned up and changed and cuddled, and now they were just wasting time until Allie's parents came back to take her home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know lots of you wanted something with Alex and Alura, so I'm hoping you'll like this one! ;)

The curtains were closed, the TV was muted, and despite the time being barely past noon Alex's place was a disaster zone. But it was a kind of disaster that she liked, a kind of disaster that she cherished, and most importantly, one that Maggie wouldn't frown upon.

In the middle of the big bed, atop a bright pink, ridiculously-decorated blanket, rested a tiny lady with sparkling blue eyes. And beside her was a fawning aunt, who held a teddy bear in her hand and made cartoon-ish sounds. The two had played and eaten and napped, they'd cleaned up and changed and cuddled, and now they were just wasting time until Allie's parents came back to take her home.

"Hey, munchkin, I need to talk to you about something," Alex started, turning to face her niece fully. "I need you to do me a favor."

Distracted the baby was, but she briefly glanced at her aunt and flashed a toothless smile. Then she proceeded to reach for the teddy bear held just out of her reach.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll give you the teddy, but hear me out. This is serious business. You gotta help me, I'm getting desperate here," Alex whined and brought the stuffed animal down to kiss Allie's nose, accompanying the action with the proper sound effects. "Listen, aunt Maggie loves you, right? She loves having you around and babysitting and doing everything perfectly while I'm struggling and freaking out over your milk's temperature and your fake crying. She's a natural, even though she won't admit it. The thing is, aunt Maggie didn't want kids, you know? She said she was more comfortable with being the cool aunt, and she _is,_  truth be told. But ever since you showed up she's been acting weird, and I'm not sure what to make of it. It's like– like she's changing her mind about the kid thing, but I don't know. She hasn't said anything yet and I don't wanna start a conversation when I'm not sure. She might back up, you know, if she figures out I'm onto her." Alex rambled on and on to her silent listener, her safest secret-keeper those last six or so months. Alura kicked and giggled and grabbed onto the redhead's hair, nonsensical babbling interrupting the monologue every now and then. In response, Alex couldn't help but smile widely, melting at the sight of sparkly ocean eyes and chubby fingers.

"So, about that favor..." she continued, untangling tiny hands from her hair. "Aunt Maggie's gonna be home in a little bit and I need you to be extra cute and well behaved, okay? Give her a little push and if you convince her, you're going to have a cousin to play with all day long!" Cue exaggerated gestures and loud, cheerful voices. "I promise, pinky promise!"

Alura furrowed her brows at her aunt.

"Come on," Alex whined again, dragging the last word unnecessarily long. "Please, little monkey, help your auntie out."

A few seconds ticked by—Alura lifted a tight fist to her mouth but otherwise remained silent. And Alex waited, keeping the pretense up, as if she was actually waiting for an answer. She supported her head high with one hand and wiggled the teddy bear with the other, looking down at the little girl who'd long ago stolen her whole heart, but at the same time had awoken her motherly instincts. She waited and made funny faces, not caring about how silly or ridiculous she might look, all in favor of a smile or a giggle or a happy squeal. At last, Alura offered a sudden laugh, her eyes crinkling and two tiny dimples appearing on her cheeks, and Alex laughed along too. She abandoned the teddy bear and their talk and leaned down to kiss a covered tummy, the crook of a little neck, dimpled cheeks, short hair.

"I'm not giving you back to your parents, no I'm not, I'm gonna keep you all for myself!" She sat properly and lifted the baby up, faces coming close, noses bumping. As if on cue, the front door opened with a click just a moment later. Alex turned to see Maggie entering first, followed by Kara and Mon-El. "Hey," she called out, all innocent and uncharacteristically cheery. Then she leaned in to whisper in Alura's ear: "Game on, little monkey. Do your best."

The little one didn't seem to care though. Once she'd spotted her parents, she stretched her arms toward them, not sure whom to go for first. Her eyes moved from Kara to Mon-El, talking nonsense, as if she was calling both of them to get her.

"Come here, you," Kara laughed and took her daughter from Alex's hold. "You didn't cause too much trouble, did you?" she pressed a loud, sloppy kiss to the baby's cheek.

"Nope! She was perfect!" Alex responded, winking at her niece before she walked to her wife to get a kiss as well.

"I can see that," Maggie gestured at the mess that were both the kitchen and the living room.

"We got a little carried away," Alex said, feigning sheepishness.

"It's okay, I like it," the detective responded, her smile broad and genuine as she waited for her turn to pamper the little girl in Kara's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always welcomed and appreciated, just so you know! ;) x


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